


Legend of the Terrans: A Star Wars Story

by Darknessistheenemy, GM_Creed, Kyba_Star



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, alternative universe, legend of the Terrans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2018-11-17 00:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 75,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11264295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darknessistheenemy/pseuds/Darknessistheenemy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GM_Creed/pseuds/GM_Creed, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyba_Star/pseuds/Kyba_Star
Summary: A long time ago... who believes that? A little in the future. Now that has a nice ring to it. Or at least, a bit more realistic. But that begs the question: where would we be in the future? Where, indeed, would we be, say, two hundred years from now. Who's to say we wouldn't be in a galaxy far far away? Join us, as we follow the journey of the Terrans, led by Joseph Smith and his brothers, as they explore that galaxy far, far away.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been in the making for the past four years in the minds of myself, darknessisthenemy, and two anonymous writers.

The table was large and oval-shaped, with a sleek silver top. Around the table sat the most important personnel on the base, including Admiral Robert Hecks, Admiral John Smith, the older brother of Governor Joseph Smith, who was seated at the head of the table, and Captain Ace Jefferson, the only woman officer in high ranks. Also present was Captain Joshua Smith, the youngest of the brothers on the base.

Was it coincidence that they were all here together? Some may say fate drew them together to weather some terrible storm that one could not survive without the other. Personally, though, I believe it was just the head of command back on earth. They knew how hard it may be to travel through space without the comfort of a family. The Smith's were not the first family the government had kept together.

Normally, Joshua would be joking around with his friend, Commander Aaron Tycell. But right now, the two of them were listening intently to Governor Smith.

"So, the station should be ready to go within a few days," he said. "So get some rest. Make sure your men get some rest, too." Governor Smith's eyes narrowed and stared accusingly at Admiral Hecks. "I'm talking to you, Robert."

Admiral Hecks seemed taken aback. "What?! You think I don't let my men rest? that's absurd."

Just then Joshua and Aaron yawned loudly at the table. Admiral Hecks face paled a bit as Joseph leaned over the table and asked, "Why are you two yawning so loud?"

"Huh?" Aaron said as if he was tired and confused. "Oh, don't mind us."

"Yeah," Joshua continued with the same fake emotion, "We're  just tired from the admiral keeping us up half the night to clean the mess hall because the cook was sick."

Joseph raised an eyebrow at Robert, who grinned a bit at his two officers, while everyone else chuckled, except John, but he had a small sense of humor anyways.

"Alright," Joseph said after a few of his own chuckles. "Two days. Make sure the men are rested and the ships prepped for combat, just in case we run into some hostile aliens out there. Dismissed." And everyone rose and left the room.

*******

The halls were slightly less crowded than usual because most of the men had gone off to rest before prepping for the journey. However, the buzz of excitement was stronger than ever in the halls, and John and Joshua could feel it as well as they could feel the air throw their fingers.

"Can you believe it, John? Deep space. I never thought I would live to see the day," Joshua said with excitement.

John's face never cracked a smile. "Control yourself, please."

Suddenly a metal creak could be heard from the vents above them. John and Joshua both looked around to see what made the noise. John held his hand by his pistol in case whatever it was was hostile. Joshua, however, looked up just in time to see someone fall from the air vent above him and land on him in a perfect sitting position. "So I heard Deep Space. What's up?"JoAnna asked as John whipped his pistol out. JoAnna looked at John as cool and collected as anyone could be. "Were you about to shoot me?"

"Uh, no," John said as he quickly slapped his gun back into its holster.

Joshua only replied with a few heavy groans. "Get... off me," he finally managed to squeeze out.

Before JoAnna could react a feminine hand grabbed her by her neck and shoved her roughly off Joshua. "I would appreciate it if you didn't crush my boyfriend."

Joshua gasped for air as JoAnna was hauled off him with an angry expression. Once he finally had enough air in his lungs, he looked up to see who saved him, and came into direct eye contact with Ace.

Ace stared down at him with compassion in her eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Joshua said trying to sound manly, then made a small cough. "Yeah, I'm fine." He stood up and looked Ace in the eyes. "You know, I had it under control."

Ace crossed her arms. "Sure."

Joshua chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. He then cleared his throat and turned to JoAnna. "What are you doing here? Don't you have some secret mission to be on, like you told me earlier?"

JoAnna chuckled. "I did. I was spying on the meeting. My mission's over now."

"You were spying on us?" John gasped, surprised at her.

"Relax, bro. I would have found out eventually."

"Yeah, but when Joseph decided it was the proper time to tell you, not during the meeting. That's why it's a meeting of all important personnel. Just because you're his sister doesn't mean that you automatically get to know."

JoAnna was taken aback. "Unimportant? Need I remind that I was the one who...?'

"Ah, no no no," Joshua shushed JoAnna. "We don't need to hear that whole story over again."

"And besides," JoAnna continued, "You're his sibling too, and you were there."

"Yeah, but that's because,... oh, forget it." John moaned in defeat.

Joshua and Ace chuckled as John walked away, fuming. JoAnna followed him, ready to continue to prove her point. They continued to laugh as John almost prepared himself to slap JoAnna. Joshua stared at Ace and thought her laugh was so beautiful. Her blond hair and smooth, clear face made his knees weak. He realized then and there he had one more thing he wanted to do before they left the solar system.

*******

"Sir, we are getting strange readings from the planet," said Lieutenant Hollen in the main base control station.

Joseph gave her a small sideways glance. "Lieutenant, we are always getting strange readings from the planet. Especially here. We are right above the Great Red Spot. I need you to be a little more specific."

"Sorry, sir," Hollen replied, a little embarrassed. "They seem to be massive energy readings. They only appear in short bursts, but the next is always bigger than the last."

Joseph's glance quickly morphed into a concerned expression. "What? Show me," he jumped toward the console on which the readings were seen. He stared intensely at the screen as his forehead formed wrinkles. "That can't be right. That looks like explosions."

"Correct, sir," Hollen confirmed. "They are constant explosions of pure energy erupting from the planet's surface."

Joseph's concern slowly began to turn to worry. "Oh, no," he moaned as he stepped away from the console and rubbed his face.

"Sir, what do you want us to do?" Hollen asked.

Joseph stood leaning against another console which controlled all communications throughout the base. Suddenly an idea popped into his head.

"Communications officer," he said gently to the man controlling the console.

"Yes, sir?" he said, a bit too loud for Joseph's liking.

"Shh. Don't tell anyone what you're doing," he said, wishing to keep this a secret, "but I need you to call Admiral Smith and Hecks up here now."

"Yes, sir," said the officer. He grabbed his headphones and got to work.

 *******

Ace laughed loudly at Joshua's joke as she sipped some more of her drink. She almost coughed it up, because her laughter was so hard .

"I know, right?" Joshua chuckled as well, barely getting his words out. "I did the same thing."

Ace chuckled some more before taking another sip. This was nice. Just the two of them having a drink and spending time together before they both had to leave to go prep their ships for the great journey ahead. This would be their last time together in this solar system, and she knew as well as Joshua did that they both wanted to make the most of this night.

Joshua took a sip of his drink before his face changed from a joking mood to a serious, well, as serious as he would dare be, kind of look. Ace could tell something was nagging at his mind, and he was about to get it out. "What's up, Josh?" she asked.

Joshua fiddled his fingers for a moment while he collected his thoughts. Ace waited patiently as he finally got what he needed to say straight in his mind. "Ace," he said in a kind of sigh as if to get the nerves out, "you know, we've worked together for eight years."

"Yes," Ace said keeping her shining smile on her face.

"And we've been dating for two years now," Joshua said, starting to wonder if he really did have what he wanted to say straight in his mind.

Ace chuckled a bit. "Come on, Josh. It's me." She grabbed his hands to stop him from twiddling his fingers nervously.

Joshua took a deep breath, "I guess what I'm trying to say is..."

Oh, and there's one more character I seem to have neglected to introduce.

"Oh, hello there," said Commander Caleb Verts as he sat down next to Ace. Joshua sighed as he lowered his head, showing that this interruption seemed to shatter his self-confidence. Ace groaned annoyed internally and rolled her eyes above a newly formed frown. For you see, Caleb and She were of equal rank under Admiral Smith, though one commanded a ship while the other commanded any troops that were placed on the surface of an alien surface, if so needed. And apparently since they were equal in rank, that meant they should be together. Well, she clearly had a boyfriend, but he would never stop trying to make Joshua look bad so he could inherit his girlfriend.

"What do you want, Caleb?" she asked, trying to strain the annoyance out of her voice. It didn't work.

"Whoa, okay," Caleb threw his arms up at her annoyed tone. "I'm just here to get a drink."

"Yeah, all of us here know that's not true," Joshua piped in, regaining a little bit of his self confidence. "Even the people not listening are smart enough to figure it out."

"Oh, hello, Captain," Caleb said with a smile on his face and a fake salute towards Joshua. "Ace, you're still hanging around this poor excuse of a man?"

"Wait, wait," Ace said waving her hands a bit in a stop motion. "Aren't you the guy that stranded an entire platoon of men on an asteroid for a week during a training exercise?"

Caleb was taken aback by this comment, but quickly retaliated with his own comment. "But isn't this the man who got you pregnant with a child you didn't want?" Caleb said cruelly, making Joshua shrink a bit.

"Who said I didn't want him? I love Bobyo," Ace retaliated.

"Ugh, it's even a hideous name. Who came up with it? Him?" Caleb made a gesture toward Joshua with his cup-filled hand.

"Hey, we're in space now," Joshua said, finally loosing his patience with this man. "Stuff is gonna change. including names."

"Really?" Caleb said with mocked confusion, "I thought we were spreading human tradition throughout the entire galaxy as an example for all planets to look to?"

"No, that's conquest," Ace said quickly before Joshua could reply. She could tell he was getting really annoyed with Caleb. She didn't blame him. She was starting to get annoyed, too. "We are here to explore the galaxy."

"Well, if I had my way," Caleb said with a sip of his drink. "we would show the galaxy who really has the most power. Like we did with Mars."

"Mars was self defense," Joshua said before Ace could reply. "Millions of human's died that day. Billions of Martians. That is not something to brag ourselves upon."

Caleb scoffed at this. "We won a war."

"We destroyed a species!" Joshua bit back loudly and angrily.

Caleb leaned back a little, but kept the same overconfident smile on his face. He stood, paid for his drink with a tip of his hat, then turned to Ace and said, "Fine. Stay with this poor excuse of a man. But when he let's you down, I'll still be here," and he started to walk away.

Joshua was still fuming as he walked away, but Ace had another expression on her face. It was one of a clever smile. "Oh, I'll come to you, all right. If I want to get trapped on an asteroid for the rest of my life."

That wasn't the worst part either. The worst part was that she had said that loud enough for the entire bar to hear it. The bar erupted into massive laughter and ridicule towards the commander. The man who once was once walking from the bar feeling like he owned the world was now quickly walking out red with embarrassment

Ace chuckled as she looked back at Joshua. He still held anger in his posture, but a small smile split his face with the rest of the bar.

*******

"Gentlemen, I have called the two of you here to discuss an issue we are currently facing which threatens our very mission," Joseph said, leaning on his chair.

The two admirals sat at the table in the governor's personal quarters. They both glanced at each other with an expression of concern. "What is is?" Admiral Hecks asked.

"And how does it threaten our mission?" John asked.

Joseph sighed as he clicked a button that made a radar appear on a wall made entirely of a screen. "This is the radar used to measure activity on Jupiter." Suddenly a massive green dot appeared and expanded exponentially. Joseph sighed and turned to the Admirals. "This is what we're facing, gentlemen. Those explosions are explosions of pure energy. if even one of them gets large enough to reach us, then it will send us hurtling half a galaxy away. At this point, we are pointing away from the center of the galaxy. We will fly out and away from the galaxy. While we fly far away, the energy will travel straight to the engines and turn them on at 300% capacity." Joseph made a quiet sigh as he finished his thoughts. "We will fly far, far away, gentlemen."

"Where are these explosions coming from?" John asked. "Where's the epicenter?"

"We don't know," Joseph groaned in frustration. "Our best guess is it has something to do with the storm."

"Have we alerted earth of the problem?" Robert asked.

"No," Joseph sighed, "That's what I wanted to discuss with you. There is no guarantee that we will even be hit by one of these, and I don't want to tell anyone if it all turns out to be a false alarm."

John sighed and thought for a moment before replying. "Well, we've already sent all our men to get some rest before we start our journey. I don't think we should tell any of them."

"I agree," Robert said to Joseph. "The men shouldn't be worried in case its nothing. That's too much stress to handle before starting the exploration."

"Alright," Joseph sighed. "But what about earth? Should we alert them to the situation?"

"We don't want them worrying over nothing, too," Robert said. "I say we don't tell them."

"No, I have to disagree," John spoke up. "They aren't the ones preparing for a massive journey across the galaxy. If we vanish before schedule, they are gonna want an explanation as to why we are gone."

"And if nothing happens..."

"Then they will understand," Joseph chimed in. "False alarms happen all the times. Remember the base on Phobos said they thought they saw Martians, but it was really just some new animals that no one had discovered yet? They will understand our worry."

"Joseph, you can't be serious," Robert groaned.

Joseph stared Robert dead in his eyes, burning them with the heat of his glare. "Let me show you how serious I am."

Joseph walked to the exit and opened the door. "Jefferson, get Houston on line one in my room. And tell them it is urgent. A level three emergen..."

Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the entire base. Joseph fell backwards and the door closed before he could finish his sentence. He never got to see what the explosion did to the people in that room. he looked around his room to see both Admirals lying on the floor, and trying to get up. On a monitor that showed a visual of Jupiter Joseph could see a massive golden wave that flew up and slowly faded. Joseph looked at the radar on his wall. The explosion had barely touched them.

Joseph stumbled to his control monitor where he could see the condition of every function on the base. "What the hell was that?!" Robert shouted as he rose from the ground. Joseph did not reply. He stared at engine capacity with horror in his eyes. The engines were already charged to fifty seven percent.

"We can't handle another hit like that," Joseph groaned to his Admirals.

"Oh, we're gonna have to," John said, his eyes glued to the screen. "Look. There's another one coming. Bigger than any other one before, and twice as strong."

Joseph glanced back at the screen and saw what he was talking about. While the last one had barely scraped them, this one was going to absorb them. They would either be blown to another galaxy, or arrive there in fifty pieces.

 

*******

 

"What I'm trying to say is this," Joshua sighed once they had gotten rid of the pest in the situation. He stuttered a bit, and put his hand in his pocket. "I mean, since we already have a son,"

"Josh," Ace smiled and put her hand in the pocket he was fiddling with something in, "are you trying to ask me to marry you?"

Joshua made a small smile and pulled a ring out of his pocket. "Would you like to be the first people married outside of this system?"

Ace chuckled. "Yes, Josh. I do," she smiled as Joshua slid the ring on her finger. "Now, you see. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Joshua smile grew as he wrapped his arm around her. "No, I guess not." And Ace chuckled as they drew closer.

Suddenly an abrupt explosion sent them both from their chairs, and the chairs falling with them. Glasses went flying of the counter and from the shelves, shattering all over the floor. Men all over the bar fell from their chairs and hit the ground. "What was that?" Ace cried out.

Joshua tried to stand, but his legs wobbled from the sudden impact, and he fell back over. He stood up again and managed to keep himself up. He stumbled to a monitor and fiddled with it for a second. He eventually managed to get a surface camera to appear on the screen. He could see all of Jupiter from the screen. He stared for a while as others stood and talked among one another trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Then he saw it. Joshua looked closer at the screen and saw some sort of large, golden explosion traveling at enormous speed toward the moon. It did not stop, and it never, never slowed down.

Joshua's eyes grew wide when he saw this. He whipped around and stared at everyone in the bar. "Get down!"

Suddenly it hit, and men went flying off the ground. Some even hit the roof. Before he could see anything else happen, Joshua flew forward and slammed into a table with broken shards of glass covering it. He blacked out instantly.

 

***

 

Joseph flew backwards when the impact hit and slammed against his wall, breaking the radar. He looked to his Admirals for explanations, but they both were lying on the ground, unconscious. All around him, warning lights flashed red and alarms blared from every corner.

Joseph groaned, and he felt the ground spin beneath him. He tried to stand, but fell over again. But when he did, he landed a little too hard, and he felt his consciousness fading slowly. But before he lost consciousness, he looked over to the control panel. He saw one thing before the monitor sparked and fizzled out along with the lighting and alarms. The engine capacity had reached 329%, and they were starting to fire. With that last bit of knowledge, Joseph slumped into unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that if you are reading on a phone or tablet then the asterisks look messed up. Just turn your device sideways and it will look right.


	2. Chapter 2

With a grunt and a groan Joshua rose to his knees, not daring to let his shaken legs attempt to heave the weight of his body. He felt his face. He felt sore, dizzy, and weak, but he felt no pain along his face, which was strange, because he felt dozens of cuts and gashes along his cheeks and forehead. They were already scabbed up. Odd. He looked around to try to determine where he was, but his eyes met nothing but darkness. He groaned. The generator must be blown. Either that or every light in the bar was shattered to bits, which he doubted.

Eventually he decided to lift himself to his feet. He wobbled a bit and fell over, but his side hit a metal table before he slammed to the ground. He remembered this vaguely. He had hit a table covered in glass cups before blacking out. He felt around the table. There was a dent in it. Judging by the shape, he was lucky enough to have hit it with his buttocks, for the dent was much to wide and deep for it to have been his head that caused it. Joshua withdrew his hand, but in the process cut his palm on a shard of glass. He winced and quickly drew his hand to him. He tried to examine the wound, but he still couldn't see a thing.

He groaned and wrapped his hand after tearing off his sleeve for wrapping use. He looked around but still saw no light. "Is everyone okay?" he called to anyone who could hear him.

Silence answered him. He was patient enough for an answer, but a part of him started to worry a little bit. But to his relief several groans and whines filled the bar. A clatter of bottles here and there, and the cracking of unused muscles assured him that the people who answered were in fact okay. "What happened?" someone asked.

Joshua sighed. "I don't know, but the generator must be shot."

He waited a moment for someone in command to give orders, but all he heard was the same voice ask another question. "What are we going to do, Captain?"

Joshua furrowed his brow in confusion. Why was he asking him for help? He was a captain, and had no hands-on experience with these kinds of situations. As he soon discovered, the reason was literally right in front of them all: the dark. No one could see anyone. No one knew who was truly in command at this point, for they knew not who lay three feet from them. They could only identify each other by sound, and he was the only person here who had verbally identified himself. He was the highest rank that they knew was present, so they all looked to him. He sighed. He still didn't have hands-on experience, but that didn't mean he should leave these confused men and women leaderless. He had to do something.

"Alright, then," he muttered to himself, then raising his voice, shouted to the bar, "Who here has engineering experience?"

Several voices chimed and answered his call. "Alright. I need you to get to the generator and see if you can fix it and get power restored to this section of the base. At least get emergency power running."

He was answered by the rustle of feet and heavy boot steps exiting the bar. Now that he took care of that, what would he do with the rest of the injured here? He thought for a moment. He needed to get them all collected into one spot so he knew where everyone was.

"Alright, everyone," Joshua called, "come to my voice. Grab those who can't walk or move as well." A loud shuffle filled the dark as people started toward his voice. Some footsteps stopped for a moment, before continuing with their noise doubling as they leaned an injured person on their shoulder. Joshua realized that they would never grab everybody. So, he grabbed what he hoped was the shoulder of someone he heard walking up behind him and asked if he was injured. After denying this statement, Joshua commanded him to grab one other person who was in able condition and scour the room for those who couldn't help themselves.

"Come on, gather round my voice," Joshua continued to beckon. "Make sure you know someone's next you. Alright, now, turn to one another and help mend each other's wounds. or if you are helping a person stand, then help them first."

Joshua finished his commands and as he heard people shifting and fabric rubbing against other fabric he bent down to help someone by him. Just then, someone called his name from across the bar. "Captain, come quick."

Joshua quickly stood up after assigning the injured man another makeshift nurse. He gently maneuvered his way through the crowd. "Call again."

"Over here, captain," Joshua quickly walked over to the man's voice, going as fast as his wobbly legs would take him. He stuck his arm out till he felt what he hoped was a man's chin.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked.

"Bend down, sir," the man said, and Joshua heard the fabric of his pants stretch as he bent his knees. Joshua followed the sound of his motion and put his hand on the ground to steady his still shaky legs. But he did not feel the ground. He felt someone's legs. Pretty smooth legs.

"She's hurt extremely bad, sir," the man said. Joshua didn't want to know how he knew she was a she, but he did want to know who was hurt.

"Where is she hurt?"

"She broke her left leg and right arm," the man answered.

Joshua nodded, though the man could not see. He felt her left leg. Ugh. Definitely broken. He stood for a moment and felt around him. Based on how much he walked he should be near the wall, and the wall is lined with tables, and where there are tables, there are chairs.

Joshua grabbed a chair from a nearby table, He swung it over to the noises the man made to pinpoint his position. Gently setting the woman's leg upon the chair, he groaned aloud. "When are those guys going to get that generator running?"

"If I may, sir," the man said, "they are working in pitch black. I doubt this is an everyday tuneup they are doing."

Joshua sighed. "Your right."

Just then the woman groaned. Joshua immediately scooted over, keeping his hand over her body so he knew when he reached her mouth. "Hello? Are you okay?"

Another groan, then, "What happened? Why can't I see?"

Joshua immediately recognized Ace's voice. "Ace? Are you okay?"

"Ugh," she groaned again, "I can't feel my leg."

Joshua sighed. "It's broken. So is your arm."

Joshua heard a very quiet straining sound. Ace sighed as her attempt to lift her right arm failed.

Joshua scooted a little closer to her. "It's okay. All we have to do is wait for the engineers to fix the lighting, find a medic, and get your leg and arm wrapped up."

Ace probably furrowed her eyebrows. "What engineers?"

Joshua sighed. "It doesn't matter right now."

After a tiny moment of silence, Ace said, "Well, they won't get all the power working. The core must be overheated as shit. They'll probably just turn on emergency power."

Joshua sighed. "Well, we'll just have to use that then, because no one is crazy enough to go all the way to the command hub and cool down the core when we're this far from it and it's pitch black.

__________________________________________________________________

JoAnna swung a hammer at the brake and shattered the debris stuck around the chain. When she did this, the crank was sent spinning in circles and the chain was sent flying downward, as the gates dropped and ice-cold water swirled around the glass covering up the core. "With all the strength of a great typhoon..." JoAnna muttered to herself as she shined her light at another brake and smashed the debris trapped between the chains "There we go," JoAnna muttered to no one, "that ought to cool the core."

JoAnna continued to hum to herself when she walked back to the observation post where engineers would continually monitor the core. Of course, for an emergency, the post had its own separate generator so as to continue to monitor the core if it were ever overheated or damaged, so JoAnna, after repairing this generator, had the necessary utensils to monitor the core's cool down process, though it wasn't easy seeing as this post was made to be run by a dozen people or so.

Soon the core reached its proper temperature. JoAnna heard outside the lights flicker back on and air vents flowing once again, and not a moment too soon, because seeing as every wound they had sustained in this occurrence was already scabbed, and some were already completely healed, she had guessed that they had been asleep for almost three days, and without the vents running, they would have run out of oxygen pretty soon. 

JoAnna continued to monitor for a minute, then got bored. She decided that the core was fine as it was and wandered off. The people in that room were starting to wake up, anyways. She walked around the base until she reached the command center where the main computer was located and where the governor's meeting room was entered. She groaned. These people seemed to have gotten the worst of it. They wouldn't be awake any time soon.

She walked to one of the many smaller computers used for monitoring other random things throughout the base. She turned it on to see what it monitored. But instead of checking that, as soon as the system rebooted, she was surprised to find an internet signal. Weird. JoAnna let her curiosity overtake her and dove into it. The computer automatically plopped her screen's images onto the main computer screen in front of all the other smaller ones. JoAnna looked at it interested. The whole thing was written in a bunch of weird symbols, and the images were a mix of not only humans, but a bunch of odd-looking aliens. All the sound that she heard from it was odd music and some sort of weird dialect.  JoAnna seemed confused, but at the same time, she was very very interested. "I love a challenge," she smiled as she stuck her headphones into the computer and clicked on an instructional video.

_____________________________________________________________________

Jeff shook his head as he rose to his feet. What had just happened? Whatever it was, being a hanger guard did not train him for this. Jeff looked around at the damaged hanger. It seemed to be fairly minimal, and the _Constitution_ and _Independence_ were still in fine condition. It was a good thing too. Those two star ships were the backbone of the fleet of Europa.

"Abe! Are you okay?" Jeff quickly limped over to his friend lying on the ground five feet from him. Abe groaned and grabbed Jeff's hand tightly.

"Jeff, is that... you?" Abe asked weakly.

"Yes, yes it is," Jeff said, "You're okay, Abe. Right?"

"I don't think... I'm gonna make it..."

"Yes, you are, Abe. Your strong, and you will survive," Jeff reassured his friend.

"Jeff, if this is the end," Abe asked with his voice strained, "I... need to know..."

"Yes?" Jeff felt himself tear up.

Abe groaned and took in a deep breath, then, with rasp pasted across his voice, gently asked, "Who watches the watchman?"

Jeff was about to answer when his mind fully processed the question. "What?"

"I need to know," Abe said his voice suddenly strong and clear, "Jeff, I need to know before I go."

Jeff groaned. "Oh, you're fine." Jeff stood up and resisted the temptation to punch Abe in the chest. "Don't scare me like that again."

Abe chuckled as he stood up. "I'm sorry, you're just too easy to trick."

"Oh, I am, now?" Jeff said, acting insulted.

He was about to say something when suddenly the hanger door opened up. Abe and Jeff stared as a sleek silver craft slowly lowered itself into the hanger and landed beside the _Constitution._ Before they could process this a group of seven men, dressed in weird leather tunics colored blue and light brown walked down a ramp that fell from the ship. The seven men approached Abe and Jeff. They spoke to them, but Jeff and Abe couldn't understand a word they said.

"Um, what are you saying?" Jeff asked. The man stopped speaking and looked at Jeff with a furrowed brow.

"Never mind that," Abe interrupted, "what are they doing in the base, and how did they get in?" He turned to the man. "How did you get in here? This is a restricted area... moon."

The man didn't answer. He just stared in confusion. Abe groaned. "Jeff, call Admiral Smith, and get him down here."

Abe tried to talk with the man, but could not get anything through to him. Jeff continually tried to call Admiral Smith, but could never get a reply from him. Now something you need to understand is they weren't using phones. They were using specially designed communicators to talk. These communicators were made for communicating around the moon or from the moon to the planet. They did not require any satellite signal, seeing as they would probably not find a proper signal out in space. With this in mind, Jeff could still not reach Admiral Smith. He gave Abe a look of loss.

Abe groaned. He didn't know what to do if they couldn't get Admiral Smith. Then he looked up at the ship just yards away from them in the deeper parts of the hanger. The regale _Constitution,_ with its advanced laser canons and the second strongest tractor beam in the fleet. Suddenly an idea popped into Abe's head.

"Jeff," he said, "call up Captain Jefferson. I bet she will be wondering what these trespassers are doing parked next to her ship."

_____________________________________________________________________

The lights had long since returned in the bar, and amazingly, in their full glory. And though the damage was extensive, with shelves torn from walls along with parts of the wall itself, the thing that surprised Joshua more than anything else was that all the cuts of every single person he saw were already scabbed up, and on their way to healing. This surprised him much, for unlike JoAnna, he lacked the ability to use this to determine how long they had been out.

But he didn't dwell on it more than that, for he had other matters to attend to. His fiancee finally had a medic take a look at her broken limbs, and had set them. He had also done some complicated medical procedure Joshua didn't understand, but supposedly it helped her bones heal faster. Now she was to stay completely still while her legs healed. That had happened three hours ago, when the lights had turned back on. Now she would gently move her arm from side to side at times, and maybe wiggle her toes a little. The medic had given her crutches, but she had yet to try to use them.

Joshua, of course, had never left her side, unless the medic requested he did. and when he did, Joshua walked around trying to help those who needed it. But he didn't find very many. Most of the people had already been patched up, and had left the bar to check on their families and make sure they were safe and patched up. The only reason they were still in the bar was because the medic dared not move her to the medic station at the risk of ruining her leg even more. But now, after they had given the leg time to heal, they were preparing to move her to the medic station. Joshua continued to keep her company while they waited for the medic.

"But I'm sure that if the government hasn't sent an investigation team up here to check on us and find out what happened, then they probably will soon," Joshua said to Ace.

"Yeah, but since when does the government care about us?" Ace asked.

Joshua thought for a moment. It was true the government had had little contact with them recently. In fact, the only contact they had with earth recently was the monthly food shipment. Joshua was about to open his mouth to reply when he heard Ace's communicator buzz. He immediately reached into Ace's pocket and grabbed her communicator for her. He was about to answer when Ace stopped him. "No, let me talk," she said. Joshua did not argue and put the communicator by her mouth. "Yes, who is it?"

"Captain Jefferson?" a voice filtered through, "my name is Jeff Vages. I am a guard in hanger bay two, just by the _Constitution._ An issue has arisen down here and we need your help to resolve it."

Ace sighed. What timing this guard had. "Why can't you get Admiral Smith down there?"

"We can't reach him, ma'am," Jeff replied.

Ace sighed again. She was quiet for a moment, and a thoughtful silence covered the two. Finally after a moment Ace finally answered. "Alright, I'll be right down."

Joshua immediately stood up to protest. "Ace, you can't. you are in no condition to go down all the way to the hanger."

"Why not? The medical hovercraft should be right outside," she contradicted.

"But what if this situation is dangerous?" Joshua continued to object, "You have no means to keep yourself away from whoever is down there."

"Don't worry, I'll have Aaron come with me," she smiled. "He would know what to do in a situation like this."

"But Ace..."

"Joshua," Ace silenced him with a quick harsh tone and steady eyes staring straight into his, "if I can make it to the medic's tent, then I can make it down to the hanger."

Joshua was silent for a moment in thought of these words. "Are you sure?"

Truly, no, she was not. She didn't know if she would make it down there without hurting her wound and messing up her bones again. And he was right, too. If whatever or whoever was down there did pose a threat, she would never be able to get away before getting shot. But that was her ship, and in the absence of John, her hanger down there, and she had to do something. "Yes, I am," she said to reassure herself and Joshua.

Joshua sighed in defeat. "Alright, I clearly can't stop you. But that doesn't mean I won't come with you."

Ace smiled. "Of course. You're always welcome by my side, dear."

Just then the doctor walked up to them and announced that they were ready to transport her. Joshua and Ace both stared for a second before Ace said, "Change of plan."

  _____________________________________________________________________

Abe's anger built up as this man continued to ignore what he said. His hand floated dangerously close to his gun. "Listen, give me the answers I'm looking for or..."

"Jeff Vages?"

Abe and Jeff both looked toward the direction of the voice. They saw Captain Jefferson limping along on crutches accompanied by Captain Smith and half a dozen soldiers led by Commander Tycell. "Yes, Captain?" Jeff answered.

Ace hobbled on her crutches closer to Jeff. She looked over at the men in the strange uniform before asking, "Who is in my hanger?"

Abe spoke up before Jeff could. "That is what I have been trying to find out, ma'am."

"I see," Ace said calmly before hobbling over to the man Abe had been interrogating, Joshua always close to her, and the soldiers standing behind them, ready to fire if necessary. "Sir, I am Captain Ace Jefferson of the New World Alliance. This is an American base you have entered. Please state your purpose here and how you managed to open the hanger door?"

"It's no use, Captain," Abe said, "he's a stubborn one. He won't listen to anything we say."

"Well, then," Ace said softly, "since they won't show me their authorization to be here, we will just have to force them out. Commander."

"You got it, Ace," Aaron replied before removing his gun, "Alright, men, you heard her." The six soldiers pulled their guns out and pointed them at the uniformed men. The men automatically backed up before someone yelled at them and they all pulled out their weapons. They yelled something at Aaron and his men, but they didn't understand.

"Final warning," Ace said to them, "Show me your authorization or leave."

They replied in a strange muttering again. Ace did not fall for it. She thought it was a con to trick them into letting their little group on the base. A terrible con. There was no way they didn't know English. Literally everyone knew English after the Martian War, or at least anyone with the ability to get this deep in space. They had to know English, because it was the global language when the New World Alliance was formed to fight back against the Martians. Everyone knew it so that they would be able to communicate with each other. There was no way they couldn't know English. They were humans after all.

Ace was about to tell Aaron to give the order to fire when suddenly two of the uniformed men shot her crutches out from under her. She almost hit the ground before Joshua grabbed her beneath the shoulders. "Are you okay?" he asked as he lifted her up.

"Yeah," she replied. "They just hit my crutches. Nothing else."

Joshua wrapped an arm under her shoulder and had her lean on his chest. Aaron almost told his men to fire when someone in the other group of men, who appeared to be their leader, clearly said something to them, but he still spoke in a language they couldn't understand. Abe got fed up with their incoherent babbling. "What are you saying?!?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"They said, 'that was a warning shot'," someone's voice echoed to them. Everyone stopped and looked around wondering where it came from.

Suddenly JoAnna dropped from an air duct stuck in a nearby wall and landed perfectly between the two armies. Her eyes immediately sailed to Ace. "Are you brain dead?"

"What?" Ace and Joshua both reacted at this.

"They clearly couldn't understand a word you were saying," JoAnna said.

"But that's not possible. All humans know English now. It's the official language of the New World Alliance," Ace contradicted.

"Well, maybe it's because we aren't by our world anymore," JoAnna replied.

Ace didn't answer this. They weren't by Earth anymore? Then where were they? And why were their humans here too?

The commander of the other army spoke up to JoAnna in their strange language. JoAnna replied with equally odd words, though much slower than the other. But he seemed to understand her.

Then a third voice joined the talk. It talked in the strange language, like the rest, but it came from the ship itself. From the ship a woman surrounded by several other younger girls dressed in red robes emerged. The woman had a completely white face, with scarlet lipstick and a beauty mark under her lips. She was accompanied by a younger woman, who wasn't dressed nearly as formal as the  white-faced woman. The commander of the other army walked from JoAnna and consulted with the women. They seemed to be having a heated discussion.

While they argued Joshua quietly whispered to JoAnna, "Hey, how'd you do that?"

"I accessed their internet accidentally," JoAnna replied, "And three hours of listening to videos for little kids taught me enough for basic speech."

"What? Impossible," Joshua denied, "There's no way you learned enough of their language to talk in only three hours."

"Joshua, if you remember, I was a translator in the Martian war. It's my job to learn alien languages. Besides, it was a pretty simple language to learn," JoAnna replied, "It was basic."

After a moment of discussion the man and two women walked up to Joshua, Ace, and JoAnna. The white faced woman spoke and JoAnna translated. "We understand you didn't understand us. Accept forgiveness from the Queen of Naboo."

Joshua and company stared at her in silence for a moment. "What?" he spoke up.

"I don't know it that well," JoAnna muttered.

"That sounded like a very rough translation to me," Aaron said.

"Yeah," Joshua concurred, "How do you know that you didn't misunderstand?"

JoAnna groaned. There were times when Joshua and his friend were so stubborn, she wanted to slice his palm... wait a minute. JoAnna looked at Joshua's palm and noticed a filthy rag wrapped around it. She also noticed a torn part of his shirt. JoAnna smiled and whispered into the queen's ear.

The queen nodded and walked up to Joshua. Aaron and his men reached for their weapons, but JoAnna called them off. Joshua did not contradict this command. He wanted a sign from them to show him that they were as JoAnna said, and this may have been that sign. Though he did have Ace lean on JoAnna, just in case.

The queen grabbed Joshua's hand gently. She unwrapped the torn off bit of shirt Joshua had used to wrap it. He had half a mind to retaliate, but he decided to let her do this. She examined the large gash he had before turning and calling to the ship. After a few seconds, a humanoid looking robot came sauntering down the ramp carrying what looked like a medical kit. The robot pulled a greenish patch from the medical kit and handed it to the queen. The queen spoke some words and JoAnna translated. "It's called a bacta patch. It is supposed to grow your skin back."

Joshua raised an eyebrow but did not take his hand from the queen. She gently spread the bacta patch across his gash. Joshua flinched. He felt something going on in his hand. It wasn't a bad feeling, per say. It was just odd. After several minutes of silence and anticipating waiting, the queen grabbed Joshua's hand and removed the bacta patch. Joshua looked at his hand. It was amazing. Barely a mark left on his skin, nothing that would be permanent. Joshua stared at his hand longer than he had ever stared at it before.

"Josh, are you good?" Aaron asked.

"Commander," Joshua answered, "Tell your men to stand down. These people come in peace." Joshua turned to the queen as the hanger filled with the sound of replacing safety and guns being slung back into holsters. He bowed himself to the queen to show his gratitude. The queen nodded back and smiled. The woman next to her seemed pleased.

"Well glad we cleared this up," JoAnna said clapping her hands together as she turned to the second women,"Now then, Senator, we could use some help with another small issue."

Suddenly a rumble rocked the entire base, sending everyone to their knees."Okay, maybe not so small," JoAnna said before a second rumble followed.


	3. Chapter 3

Joseph's eyes flashed open. He was immediately greeted by what seemed to be the brightest light he had ever seen, but as his pupil's adjusted to the light, he found them to be ordinary lights fixed into the rafters. He groaned and tried to stand. He slipped and fell over. Luckily, his shoulder hit the wall before his face slammed to the floor. He grunted and put a numb hand against the wall. He slowly pushed himself away while slowly testing his balance as it restored.

With a shake of his head to restore his damaged focus, Joseph heaved his body onto the support of his two shaking legs. Finally, they kept his body supported.

Joseph glanced at the damage around the room. Anything glass was reduced to shards so small they may not even be dangerous. His personal desk had fallen over and was in three pieces, and his chair had flown halfway across the room. His walls were laid bare with all the wiring and plumbing made visible. Even the covers on the air ducts had flown from their screws and lay in several places at once.

But luckily, his meeting table had managed to stay partially undamaged, though the chairs had fallen and been thrown around. One chair had seemed to fallen on top of something large and black. Joseph looked closer. He slapped his head, though gently for it still hurt. John and Hecks. That was John's black Jacket. Joseph hobbled over to John and pulled the chair off him.

"John. John!" Joseph bent down and shook his brother's shoulder. Nothing for a moment, then John's eyes snapped open and his upper body went shooting up. What John did not realize, was his head was positioned directly under Joseph's meeting table. John groaned and grabbed his head as he brought it back down from hitting the underside of the table. Joseph covered his mouth to show to John he was concerned, when in reality he simply was hiding a smile.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," John groaned angrily as he slipped out from beneath the table. He stood and leaned on the table, regaining his balance much quicker then Joseph had.

"Huh. What do you know. Those experiments did come in handy," Joseph commented.

"Oh, please," John waved his hand at this notion, "I would have been fine even without some Captain America style experiment."

"John, please don't complain about those guys again," Joseph sighed. "They were taught to turn science fiction into science fact. You know that. In our first interplanet war, what did you expect them to do? Besides, without that experiment, you wouldn't be at such a high rank in the first place."

John scoffed. "If Hecks could do it, so could I."

Joseph sighed. "Fine, then, let's go look at the camera and see if the rest of the base survived."

"If they got anything worse than us, then I doubt they did," John said, then made a small chuckle to rest their minds from such a thought as that, "It would make our job a lot easier."

Joseph was not amused. "John, killing off the entire base just so that we don't have to keep track of one person is not something you should be thinking of."

John looked down in shame. "Sorry."

"Besides, what if someone out their is awake," Joseph pointed to the door as he turned on his camera feed, specially made for the governor alone. "If they were listening then the whole cover story would be blown."

"I doubt anyone is out there," John scoffed.

Joseph was about to bite back at him when the camera feed caught his eyes. It was a camera positioned to give them a view of Jupiter, but Jupiter wasn't beneath them. It was a green, brown, and blue planet with white clouds puffed up here and there. Joseph was about to spout out his claim that it was earth when he realized something.

"Look at the continents," John said, "those aren't earth's continents. That's not earth." Joseph and John both leaned their heads slightly away from the camera like it was infested with a newfound deadly disease.

Suddenly a groan broke their thought processes. They turned to see a hand gripping the opposite side of the table, trying to lift a body from the ground. "Hecks," they both realized in unison. They scrambled to the other side of the table and Joseph picked Hecks up and leaned him on the table.

Hecks groaned. He blinked a bit before words protruded from his lips. "What happened?" he asked.

"We don't know yet," Joseph replied, "but whatever happened, we do know this: we aren't in the solar system anymore, Robert."

The three suddenly heard a ring coming from Joseph's pocket. Joseph pulled out his communicator and asked who was calling.

"Ah, Joseph, good. You're awake," JoAnna's voice pierced through the small device, "now I know you're confused, but I need you to be quiet, cause this is where it gets complicated."

***

 Kira hurried around the small apartment she shared with JoAnna gathering their meager belongings and stuffing them in bags as quickly as she could. Her eyes wandered over the room picking up the last of their things before resting on the painted wall. "The room is too bland," JoAnna had said when they first arrived, when she saw the gray walls,' It looks too much like a prison.' Kira sighed as she hoisted the few bags of clothes and knicknacks on to her back as she left the room to join the mass of people hurrying to the ships before the floodwaters came. She tried to make herself as small as possible, uncomfortable with the shifting and bustling crowd. Scattered conversations reached her ears, murmuring about an explosion on the surface of Jupiter, that Europa was no longer in the solar system or even the proper galaxy, and the arrival of a strange alien race that lived on the new world they orbited now. Kira didn't believe what she hadn't seen herself or science had proven. Rumors were just speculation about things people claimed to see and had told others, the stories getting more warped as they spread, much like the legends back on Earth. "There's always a bit of truth in legends." JoAnna's voice whispered in her mind.

Kira sighed as she followed the crowds to the ships. She was about to board when a voice called out to her. "Kira!" Kira turned and saw Max and Calvin running up to her. The boys had been inseparable since birth and where never very far from each other. Joanna even had to start training them together after one kept running off to find the other. "Hey boys." she said stepping off the ramp to speak to them. "What's up?"

"Where are our dads?" Calvin asked.

Kira replied, "I'm positive your parents are alright. Their probably trying to keep order."

Just then, a trimmer was in effect. Kira exclaimed, "Quickly. Get on the _Constitution_ now."

***

John was on the bridge of his ship, the _Independence_ , as he watched the alien space craft fly off to the planet below. Ace had informed him that the _Constitution_ was ready for launch and Joseph and JoAnna were safely on the alien ship. With Hecks and Joshua evacuating the _Preamble_ and the _Liberty_ , he waited until he was certain every soldier and civilian were off Europa at the sometime feeling uneasy about the scenario they were in.

Ever since the Martian War had ended, John's mind set had changed dramatically. He realized mankind wasn't alone. He believed in the existence of an all-powerful, holy God, and seeing life beyond Earth didn't waver his belief. It merely surprised him. And seeing what the Martians had done to mankind in just simple days, what would have taken years, made him a little hostile toward aliens. Luckily, the aliens that were here were acting peaceful so far, so he didn't mind them aiding the NWA in this case. For now.

"Sir," said a voice. John's mind returned to the present.

"What is it, Captain Yates?" He asked.

"First Officer Calhoun has reported that the doors are jammed and we have only two minutes until those floodgates are ripped from their post," exclaimed Yates.

John sat down into the admiral's chair, clapped his hands at his mouth, and closed his eyes. Blueprints imprinted in his mind flow from left to right like the pages of a book of the ancient days. _Pause_ , he said. _The doors are held together by gears that make a nineteenth century clock look like a yo-yo. But there is a weakness. But where? Lets see._ The prints began to move again. _Pause,_ he said. _A loose bolt in the gear holding the door in place. Ha. The work of an amateur._

"Lock guns at Point-one-zero-four-niner-two-Charlie and fire," John ordered.

"But, sir,..."

"But, what, captain?" John asked. "If you have a better idea, do pray tell."

"Fire as ordered," Yates ordered the yeoman at weapons post.

The order was pasted on to the other ships and guns began a-blazin'. All the doors immediately blow off into the atmosphere of the planet below. All except the _Liberty's_ because her guns had not fired. Why?

"Hecks, fire at that damn door and get out of here, now," John yelled throw the comms.

"You maybe smart, Smith," Hecks said. "But my men will open it manually."

"There is no time," John said. "The floodgates will be opened and your men will die for nothing."

"I will not damage the property of the New World Alliance," Hecks exclaimed." We must leave as much as possible so we can salvage it when the ice settles."

"What is more important ?" John asked angrily. "Your men's lives or your damn reputation?"

No response.

"He has cut the comms, Admiral," Yates pointed out.

John cursed as he punched the consulate. "He is a fool."

"We know," Yates said discreetly. "Even the Governor has said that before."

"When?" John asked.

"Since day one."

***

Josh scoffed after slapping the comm off. "Cease your firing" he had said. Then what were they supposed to do? Wait for the flood to come and wash them away? He turned to his weapons operator. "Cease attack."

"But.. but sir..."

"I said cease," Joshua snapped softly. He sighed as he sat back in his captain's chair. All he could do now is wait. He hated waiting. He always felt the need to do something. He never liked to sit around and do nothing. It made him feel useless.

Suddenly a explosion larger than any before erupted from the gate. A gap large enough for them to get out was formed. He watched as the _Independence,_ followed by the _Constitution_ flew through the gap. The _Liberty_ started its engines when suddenly a huge pang filled the hanger and a massive wave of water flowed from the burst pipes above them.

Joshua immediately turned on his comm. "Admiral, get out of here!"

He received a response through the _Liberty_ flying through the gap. "Alright, full speed ahea..."

Suddenly the whole _Preamble_ started to shake as red emergency lights began to flash. "Sir," someone called. Joshua could not single out who in the chaos, "One of the water pipes above us just burst. The whole ship is being hit with water."

Joshua regained his lost balance before ushering the order to go. The ship sped ahead, but with the water weighing them down, they started off slow, and even scraped the bottom of the hanger for a second. "Sir, we are too weighed down by the water. We aren't high enough to get out the gap!'

Joshua didn't even think. He immediately gave the order to fire.

"But sir," the weapons officer replied, "the Admiral's orders..."

Joshua didn't have time for this bullcrap. He jumped forward out of his chair and hit the button to fire himself. The guns still prepped from their hitting the door before the Admiral gave the order to cease, laser missiles immediately flew from the  _Preamble_ towards the gate.

***

Ace watched as the flaming gate continued to smolder away. That, however, was not what she was watching for. "Come on, Josh," She muttered to herself.

Suddenly a massive explosion erupted from the bottom of the gate. Ace immediately assumed the worst, but only for a split second when suddenly the _Preamble_ came flying through the smoke and flames. She breathed a sigh of relief as the rest of the ship erupted into cheers. Though the _Preamble_ was the smallest ship they had, they were well known and liked throughout the base, more so than any other crew. So everyone was happy to see the tiny ship fly safely out of the base.

***

"Haha," John exclaimed happily, "get him on the first comm."

After a moment, the shaken voice of Joshua came flowing through to John's ears. "Joshua, you old son of a bitch!" John happily exulted.

"Same bitch you're the son of, buddy," Joshua grinned back. "Now lets get out of here."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. This one was done a little different than the others in that I usually write the whole thing myself with little bits here and there done by my helpers. However, this time, my coauthor darknessistheenemy and my brother who doesn't own an account wrote there own parts. I wrote the first long part myself, but then darknessistheenemy wrote the second part, and my brother the third. I wrote the last couple parts. However, though they didn't write much this chapter, they will write much more in the future, and even sometimes have a chapter of their own to write. I'll be sure to write one of these in every chapter to make sure you know who to give credit to.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this, and we will try our best to get more chapters out.  
> \- Kyba Star


	4. Chapter 4

Through the clouds and across the rolling valleys of Naboo, there stuck out a massive backbone protruding from the ground taking stabs at the sky with its sharp peaks. This was the Gallo Mountain Range. Lying in this range's shadow was a lake known as Lake Paonga. It was at this lake's bank that four large ships would be parked. People would be leaving the ship in massive numbers headed toward the shore, where advanced submarines were waiting to take them under the lake to a partially submerged mountain. Carved into the side of this mountain was a hidden entrance. This led to more water, but after a small float up, it revealed a massive cavern filled with ancient carvings and statues of stone. This was an ancient city, created by a species known as Gungans.  


The Gungans were the people who dwelt in the lake. They had made this temple years ago. After a talk between Joseph and the queen and senator of the Naboo, and a strange Gungan known as Jar Jar Binks, who, strangely enough, helped the Senator with her duties. After a short negotiation the Naboo understood Joseph and his people's problem, and agreed to allow them to take up residence on the planet, and Jar Jar even brokered an agreement that let them stay in the ancient hollow mountain under Paonga.  


The Naboo were extremely kind to Joseph Smith and his sister JoAnna, his translator, during the whole process. They had taken a certain liking to the strangers. Though they were from a different galaxy altogether, they shared many similarities, including appearance. And Jar Jar didn't seem to possess hatred for anything, at least not at the conference, so with these things in Joseph's favor he was able to secure their position rather quickly and easily.  


So with Joseph at the Naboo's capital of Theed, it was up to the admirals, John and Robert, to get the people to the new home. Though, they really didn't do much. They, more or less, had the captains escort the people to the water's shore, while the commanders kept them controlled as they headed to the ancient city. They had expected it to be a bit tight with little elbow room, but it turned out to be very roomy. The city had been built with multiple levels carved into it. It provided plenty of space for everyone. People quickly started to settle into the old Gungan houses and after a quick fixer-upper, they felt at home in the new place.  


However, there was still one thing left that Joseph talked of. He negotiated a home be given to them in Theed, so he could stay in contact with the queen easily. The queen did one better, and built a house for him and JoAnna to live in Theed. After they settled in, he brought his son, Max, and John's son, Calvin, to live with them, since they had a special connection to JoAnna. He stayed in close contact with John, and tried to help as much as he could with the new village, though there was little he could do.  


Oh, and one more thing was discussed. When asked by Senator Amidala what his people were to be called, Joseph didn't have time to think before the answer left JoAnna's lips:  


"Terrans."  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So originally Darknessistheenemy was going to write this chapter, but she got busy with other things like babysitting and whatnot, so I took it upon myself to write this chapter.
> 
> A bit of a different chapter, but its really more of a filler. The last few were laying the groundwork for the main story, while the next ones will be the start of the main story. This is the chapter that bridges the gap, bringing you up to date on the things that you don't care about as much, like politics and stuff like that. A bit of a short and boring chapter, but trust me, after this is when it gets even better than before.  
> -Kyba Star


	5. Chapter 5

"Argh!! Why is this so hard to put on?!" Calvin exclaimed, flopping his arms around as he tried to put on his tunic,"Why can't they wear normal clothes?"

Max chuckled as JoAnna went to help Calvin. "You know this is 'normal clothes' to these people. We are the exception here now."

Calvin sighed,"Why are we doing this anyways?"

"I told you, Calvin, you two have a new found ability that the Jedi want to observe in you both. Now hold still." JoAnna chided as she wrapped the tunic properly around Calvin and tucked it into his baggy pants.

JoAnna had been dressing these boys since she found them when they were three. They were created from their fathers to be the perfect warriors for the Martian War, made from the same DNA of the two best military minds of the New World Alliance. However this genetic experiment was far from legal and was dismantled, with JoAnna's help, and the children delivered to their DNA parents. Most of the mothers used in the experiment were prostitutes so the fathers where the ones who gained custody of the kids. John and his wife were overjoyed to have a son to raise but Joseph was an unmarried bachelor and had no idea how to raise a child. Max was often left with JoAnna due to Joseph's lack of experience and his involvement in the War. JoAnna took Max to John's home, after John was shipped off to Europa. She and John's wife had spent many years raising the two boys in the back fields of America, far away from the desolation of the War.

After the War, JoAnna, the two boys and John's wife were sent to Europa to join their fathers, John and Joseph, and Joshua, their uncle.

"Aunt Jo, what is the real reason we are going to the Jedi Temple." Max said, adjusting his tunic and looking up at his aunt.

' _Typical Max, so perceptive.'_ JoAnna thought.

"Alright boys you got me." JoAnna said, throwing her arms up in surrender. "I haven't told you the real reason you boys are being allowed to go. Your fathers have a job for you to do while you're there.'

JoAnna explained to the boys that their job was to spy on the Jedi in secret, get as much info on them as possible, and deliver it to either her or Joseph as soon as possible.

"Now boys I know its been awhile since you've done something like this." JoAnna said, kneeling down and grasping the boys shoulders,"but if you remember what I taught you you'll be perfectly fine."

When JoAnna had retrieved the boys from the experiment, she had stolen all the data they had on the boys before the Secret Service had destroyed it. From the acquired data, JoAnna learned that the boys had received growth hormones to enhance their abilities and appearance to be able to look like adults at fifteen. Because they had been rescued before major treatments had begun they had only just begun to grow mentally and physically. Physically they appeared only to be maybe seven at three years old, but mentally they had the knowledge of a aged spy, like JoAnna. However, they had horrible migraines as a side effect from the knowledge.

When Max and Calvin where reunited in the fields of Oregon, JoAnna had begun their training anew. She took them on treks through the woods and mountains teaching them the proper plants to eat and how to take down dangerous animals. At home, they were taught how to tell what a Martian looked like and self-defense against them. JoAnna had taught these boys everything about everything. How to handle themselves in a dangerous situation and to think their way out of it. These boys were her protegees 

Now it was time to test out their grit in the field with only a basic knowledge of the basic language and a layout of the Temple that JoAnna stole. Needless to say, JoAnna was terrified for them. But seeing the excitement of a real mission on their faces was enough to put a smile on her face.

"Now get your bags, boys! You're going on an adventure!"

***

 Joseph exited the speeder with JoAnna, Max, and Calvin; and glared at the tall ominous looking building. Joseph wasn't very happy with the plan that JoAnna had come up with and extremely unhappy when she had suggested that his only son be put in this dangerous situation.

Joseph looked at Max, _"He looks so young. Too young. He isn't ready, not for this."_

Joseph was about to voice his thoughts about this 'plan' when JoAnna whispered,"I know what you're thinking. Just chill. They'll do great. I trained them myself, you know."

Joseph whirled on JoAnna,"That's what worries me. What if they get caught? We don't know what these Jedi will do to them. You don't have a perfect record! This is their first mission and we all know how that turned out."

JoAnna held out her hands in a calming gesture,"I know you're worried but you're being a helicopter parent. These kids are my special projects. They'll be fine and besides we will be right at the Senate to come to check on them as often as you want."

"Helicopter parent? I'm his father! This is how a father would act!"

"As if YOU would know how a father acts," JoAnna stared Joseph straight in the eye, "Who, may I ask, sent him to live with John rather than take responsibility for your child that you..."

"Hey, uh, Aunt Jo?" Calvin cut in, "Uh, when do we... go in?"

JoAnna sighed. She gave Joseph a look that said 'we will finish this later.' She turned to Calvin with a half-forced smile. "Yes, we will go in now."

The four of them marched onward toward the large temple, a building with four spires slicing the clouds with a fifth pillar, larger than all the others, jutting in the middle of the other four. This was their destination: the Jedi Counsel.

***

"You what?!" JoAnna nearly shouted at the dark, bald man in front of her.

"They are much too old. We will not accept them," Master Windu said with no emotion showing on his face.

"They're only eight!" JoAnna retaliated.

"Attachments, they have," the small green alien known as Yoda said in his reversed language pattern. "clouded, their judgement may become, when miss, or fear for their loved ones, they do."

JoAnna was about to snap when Joseph grasped her arm and pulled her back to the boys' side while he took a step toward Yoda. "I realize these things seem unorthodox compared to how you normally do things, but this is a unique situation."

"How so?" Windu chimed in.

Joseph turned his body towards him. "As you know, we came from another galaxy. As soon as we came here, these boys started showing abilities that we found are common to you Jedi. They didn't show these abilities before coming here."

Yoda's ears raised a few inches in curiosity. "Hm. Strange, this is."

"We thought maybe you could give them some time to discover the reason this has happened," Joseph pressed.

"Perhaps, give them some time in the training program, we will. But Jedi they will never become," Yoda said.

"That is all I ask," Joseph bowed slightly to the Jedi.

"It's settled, then," Windu said, "the boys will stay here until we find the answer we search for. Dismissed."

JoAnna and the boys bowed before exiting the counsel room.

***

"Well, kiddos, I guess this is goodbye for now. We'll visit when ever we have any free time." JoAnna said, hugging Max and Calvin."I'll miss you both. Call if you need anything at all."

"We will." Calvin said, nudging Max with his elbow."Even though Max said we won't need to."

Max scoffed and shoved back at Calvin lightly.

Joseph knelt down by Max and grasped his arm,"Max, I know I haven't been around enough to say it or even show it, but I love you and am proud of you, son."

"Thank you, Father." Max said, looking up at his dad."I promise to make you proud."

Joseph smiled at Max,"I already am."

"Bye, boys," JoAnna gave one last hug to the boys before turning with Joseph to their waiting transport. Max and Calvin waved until the ship was a mere speck in the sky.

Calvin sighed, trying to calm his nerves. "Well, our lives have led up to this moment. Our first real mission."

Max was less nervous than Calvin, but not by much. "Let's just... not screw it up."

"Ah, come on," Calvin lightened his mood, trying to cheer them both, "us screw up? We're professionals, Max."

Max raised a single eyebrow, "We're eight, Calvin."

"Exactly. It's a world record."

Max chuckled and put his arm around Calvin. "Come on. Its time to get started."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this Chapter was done almost entirely by darknessistheenemy. I did a few things, but it was only a bit of dialogue and wrapping up the chapter. Nothing too important, so all credit goes to her.
> 
> And welcome Max and Calvin to the story. Mentioned before, I know, but this was when they would really enter the story. Their origins and personalities, and such.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and if your reading this bit, thanks again.  
> -Kyba Star


	6. Chapter 6

"Truly amazing," Ace muttered to herself, glancing around the village. Amazing, indeed, that they had been able to set up a working village so quickly, in just a few months. and a working trade route with the Naboo.

Down the river of Theed, inside the Gallo mountain range is where their village lay. The village of Terabithia, home to the Terrans. They had transformed the old Gungan temple into a beautiful piece of art. They took out the old broken glass pieces and replaced them with colored glass, giving an array of different colors shining down in the homes and corridors. This gave Ace a joyful feeling which she knew the others felt as well. She could feel the atmosphere of comfort and acceptance filling the village. Families shared everything and neighbors watched out for each other. She watched the children play together giving her hope for a happy place for her own children. Outside the temple, parents fished, swam, and washed clothes together. Boats floated about filled with traded goods for the village. They had just gotten indoor plumbing installed last week, which made Ace extremely happy, for she hadn't had a shower since they had arrived, and electricity was soon going to be online. Of course there were parts of the temple that were uninhabitable, but that didn't stop the young teens from exploring around in the rubble to find anything interesting. This was their new home and they were planning on staying a while.

"It's much warmer than Europa," Ace said to herself, feeling a warm breeze flow through her hair.

"It sure is," a familiar voice said behind her. She turned and gave a big smile to Joshua as he walked up beside her holding Bobyo, who tried to wiggle out of his father's hands.

Ace shook her head and grabbed Bobyo. "I'm sure you are much more pleased than I am about it. With your 'disorder' and all"

Joshua groaned. "Don't call it that. It makes it sound worse than it is."

"That's what it is," Ace said as she set Bobyo on the ground.

"It's only hives," Joshua said, "nothing super bad. When you say disorder you make it seem like I have... I'm... not all there, ya know."

"Yes, I know what you mean," Ace said, "but..."

Just then Ace's comlink, a communication device gifted to them by the Naboo, started to ring. "Yes?" she answered.

"Hey, Ace," JoAnna's voice crackled through, "I need to speak to John."

Ace made a confused face. "Now, I know," JoAnna stuffed Ace's potential speech back down her throat, "Why don't I just call John himself? Well, I tried that, and he won't answer, and you're the only captain under him, so..."

"What about Caleb?" Ace questioned, "Hell, why not Admiral Hecks?"

"Cause I don't like them," JoAnna said without wavering her tone.

Ace scoffed, "And you 'like' me?"

"I don't like anyone," JoAnna said back, "but you drive me a lot less crazy then those two. Even my own brother."

Ace glanced at Joshua with a cheeky smile before saying, "Okay, I'll get you to John."

"Actually, I'll just tell you cause I gotta go soon," JoAnna said after a mumble in the background of her end crackled through. "You need to tell John that the Naboo Senator is in danger."

***

"Are you insane? We can't risk open war. Not now, anyway," John snapped at Heck's absurd proposal.

Everyone shrunk a little in their chairs around the table. ' _Here we go again,'_ Aaron thought.

Robert kept a calm demeanor as he pressed his idea. "If her intel is correct, then we have to help the Senator."

"Actually, Admiral, JoAnna said she received the information from the two boys at the fanatic's temple," Caleb rose a little in his chair as he sided with his superior, "Maybe the information was slightly scrambled as it was passed along."

"Yes, we all played telephone as kids," Aaron sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

John cast a look at Aaron before continuing. "First, thank you, Commander Verts; second, it's the Jedi Temple; third, we don't have the man-power or the numbers; and last, but not least, Governor Smith is trying to pass an act of neutrality with the Senate. If we attack any side, we are thereby declaring war on that side. And did I mention we don't have the man-power?"

"I understand your concern, but our information also stated that the Jedi are planning a rescue mission themselves. We won't be in the main light; we will just help. And I feel as if Smith's logic is... clouded, at the moment. If we came in a time of tension, would it not make sense to be on the side of who's planet we live on?" Robert almost stood from his chair to level with John, but backed down, because John was well above his height.

"Concern? Concern?! What concerns me is the fact that we have only been here for six months, and we are still recovering from what happened to us!"

"Does it look like our people are still recovering!?" Hecks finally shot up from his chair. He did not level with John but he did bring his intense glare closer to John's own.

Just then Aaron and Joshua both shot up from their seats. "Stop! This isn't helping us reach a resolution at all!" Joshua stated.

"Joshua, sit..."

"No, John!" Joshua cut him off, "You aren't my Admiral." John was taken aback by Joshua's snap. Hecks smiled as he thought he received support from his men.

"And you," Aaron pointed a finger at Hecks, who's smile dissolved as he literally took a step back, "I don't think you understand the magnitude of this situation."

"He's right," Ace chimed in, but quieter than the others, "we don't have the man-power. Not even to give them any help. We would be more of a nuisance than anything else. It would be suicide."

Admiral Hecks sighed as he retracted back into his seat. Joshua shot a look at John, who scoffed at him as they both sat down, followed by Aaron, who was seated last.

After a moment of intense silence, Hecks finally spoke up, "I think, young captain, that your bias toward your superior has made you underestimate the strength of our fleet."

"What strength?" John snarled slightly.

Hecks turned his glare toward John. His glare had turned ice cold. "The strength of MY men."

"They're your men, yes," John said, his attitude simmered a bit, "but it's what you do that determine their fate. If your willing to go to war, then you'll do it alone. Without any support from me, or the governor."

Hecks broke a smile. "I don't need help from you. You have a jealous mad man for a commander, and a woman for a captain," Joshua's eyes perked up with surprise and anger at that comment, "MY men are all I need. I have the best commander and captain on Europa."

"Admiral,"

"However," Hecks cut Aaron off, "I will only be taking Captain Smith with me."

Joshua looked at Hecks, then Aaron, then back at Hecks with confusion over his face. "Just me?"

"Yes," Admiral Hecks repeated, "We will only support them from the air, not on land. I figure that would be the Jedi's strong point, anyways."

Aaron looked as surprised as he was relieved he wasn't to be included in the suicide mission. But he also cast a look of sympathy toward Joshua. Just then Hecks leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "You're lucky I don't pull your rank for snapping at your superior officer like you did. Instead, I will just exclude you from the glory of our victory."

"Fine, do what you want. I won't stop you," John said. He stood and walked to the room's exit, but paused as he opened the door, "but personally, Bobby, I'll just say this: you're gonna really piss off Joseph." John walked out with a half smile on his face before slamming the door.

Hecks frowned harshly at the closed door. Everyone left at the table stared at him with anger, or with fear. Except for Caleb, who was imagining the possibilities he had after the suicide mission was over.

"What are you waiting for?" Hecks groaned angrily. "Dismissed."

Everyone hurriedly rose from their chairs and left the room, leaving Hecks alone in the dark. "'Piss Joseph off?'" he scoffed. "He was my leader back when we were in Earth-space."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two Chapters in one day? What? No way!
> 
> Yeah, believe it or not, as much as i enjoy not having school, i have nothing to do over Christmas break. So, I'm being extra productive with this instead.
> 
> Also, holy crap am i proud of this chapter. That was the longest string of back and forth dialogue I have ever written. not saying much, i know, but still, I'm really proud of myself, especially since this is the beginning of the action. Am I more proud than I should be? Probably
> 
> But, of course, I can't take all the credit. Darknessistheenemy helped a lot with the description of the village, something she did much better than I could, and my anonymous brother helped a lot with the argument between John and Robert. So thanks to them.
> 
> But especially thanks to you guys for actually reading this. Stick around. We still have a long way to go.  
> -Kyba Star
> 
> P.S. - That whole bit with Joshua and Ace talking about Joshua's "disorder" is actually based off something called cold Urticaria, a disorder I have. Basically, when I get cold, exposed skin gets covered in hives. It's super annoying and a bit distracting, but nothing worse than that. Unless i get it on the bends of my fingers, in which case it gets hard to bend my fingers.


	7. Chapter 7

JoAnna leaned against one of the many pillars surrounding the Senate and sighed.

 _'This is a bad idea. This is suicide. Someone will die.'_ This thoughts swam around her head, buzzing with urgency. Almost like a prediction.

JoAnna shook her head and headed back inside. Joseph never let her out of his sight and he'd be looking for her soon if she didn't show. JoAnna walked through the carpeted halls and reveled in the beauty of the building. With rich red carpets and gold trims to the deep mahogany walls, it felt so much like the Ancient Roman color scheme. It had been years since she'd seen Earth, since she was one of the first stationed on Europa; but she still remembered the art and beauty of Earth. Everything she saw reminded her of home, but still held a strange alien feel. She knew it wasn't Earth, but couldn't help wanting it to be Earth.

"There YOU are!" JoAnna's thoughts were interrupted by Joseph's angry voice. Before she could even turn, Joseph seized her arm and began to drag her through the halls.

"You have about two seconds to explain where you have been." Joseph demanded as they entered into a meeting room."We are almost done with the first draft of the neutrality agreement and you just up and disappear."

"I was-" JoAnna was cut off by the Chancellor and his assistants entering with the first draft.

Joseph turned and whispered,"This isn't over." Then he was all smiles for the Chancellor.

They spoke briefly before revising the document and whisking it away to be rewritten.

Joseph turned back to JoAnna, "Spill."

JoAnna sighed and told the whole story about Max and Calvin's information and her call to Ace to warn them of the danger. Joseph was silent for a moment, contemplating this news, before he spoke.

"You know what this means, right?"

"Yes, I know," JoAnna sighed, "John's probably going to do something stupid and they're all going to die."

"Actually, Hecks probably will," Joseph remarked, "but still, who's fault will it be?"

JoAnna looked at the ground and muttered. "My fault."

"What?"

"My fault," JoAnna said louder.

"And why is it your fault?"

"Because I told Ace when I should have told you first."

"Right," Joseph sighed, "JoAnna, you can't keep doing this. Making decisions you have no authority to make. Now people are probably going to die. I figure you'd have enough of THAT on your hands already."

"I did what I had to," JoAnna bit back. "You know that. I did my time."

"Did you?" Joseph raised an eyebrow in her direction.

***

Caleb looked around the village. He knew that beauty was everywhere to be found. He didn't think about that at the moment, though. He could only think about Ace, and Joshua's suicide mission, and the potential opportunity of the circumstance.

He had been thinking about Ace a lot more since they had reached this place. A LOT more. At times, he felt maybe an unhealthy amount, but he quickly brushed that away. Someone with Ace's beauty and stature was something to dwell on every second of every day. Someone who truly deserved her would know this. She should be first priority high above anything else.

Caleb winched suddenly. A throbbing and sore feeling pulsated from the back of his head. He rubbed the sore before shaking it off. He had pain back there since they had arrived in this place. Perhaps he hit his head harder than he thought he did in the whole incident.

"'A jealous madman'?" a familiar voice broke his thoughts.

"Uh, Admiral Smith," Caleb was caught completely off-guard by his superior's approach.

"You know I have no love of any kind for Hecks," John continued, "but there is one thing that has been on my mind since yesterday. Now, why do you suppose Hecks would refer to you as 'a jealous madman'? or, do you suppose he is just trying to crawl under my skin with insults toward my officer."

"I believe he is trying to dig under your skin, sir," Caleb replied carefully.

"Hm," John thought for a moment, "tell me, what is your opinion about what went down yesterday? Do you believe it's a suicide mission?"

"Uh," Caleb was taken aback by this sudden question, "I..."

"Let me rephrase that," John cut him off, "why do you suppose Hecks only brought one of his officers with him, and left one here. Excluding the fact that one of them is an expert in the sky and one an expert on the ground?"

"Sir, pardon my asking, but, is there a point to these questions?"

"Oh, okay, you want to know the truth?" John rolled along without hesitation, "for the past day I've noticed you being kind of flirtatious with by brother's fiancee. To be honest, I don't think it would do well for your reputation."

Caleb frowned. "Permission to speak freely?"

"We are an American division, aren't we?"

"I am simply capitalizing on the circumstances. Making the best profit I can from it," Caleb said with wavering confidence. He knew how defensive John could get when it came to family. Even future family.

"We are the military. We handle war. Arms and drugs dealers make the profit, not us," John snapped.

"And what of Ace, Admiral?" Caleb snapped back, "What will she do when your brother dies over the skies of whatever forsaken planet they're going to? Someone will need to look after her, and her son!"

John suddenly grabbed Caleb's shirt and lifted him three inches off the ground with his right hand. "If my brother dies over the planet of GEONOSIS," he said, emphasizing that the planet had a name, "the only thing that will stand between you, and my future sister-in-law, is ME!"

Caleb broke into a sly grin. "When Smith dies, she won't be your future sister-in-law anymore."

John lifted him two inches higher. "I don't care what she will be called. As long as I'm alive, you will not touch her. And if you do, I will pull you from your rank and kick you out with my own boot!! Do I make myself clear?!"

Caleb stared John in the eyes, challenging him with his glare. But John's look of defense toward Ace and his brother was stronger than his. Though she wasn't part of his family, Joshua clearly already saw her as part of it, and that meant his whole family would be there to protect her from anything. This family always seemed to have each other's backs. He looked to the ground and scoffed. "Yes, sir."

"Say it like a soldier," John demanded.

Caleb looked back at John and let out a hardy "Yes, sir," before John dropped him back onto the floor.

"Good," John said. "But if Joshua does live, and you try to harm him in any way, it'll cost you your life."

John turned and walked away while Caleb sat motionless on the ground. "Hecks was right for once," John muttered as he left, "You are a madman."

***

Joshua sighed as he stared at his ship. This was it. The suicide mission was about to be set underway. He knew what would happen. He wasn't coming back, no matter what Hecks thought of their strength. He wasn't going to see Ace, his fiancee and fellow ship captain, or Aaron, his best friend and faithful companion on the ground, ever again.

A hand suddenly touched his shoulder. "Captain, Admiral Hecks demands us to be prepped in ten minutes," one of the members of the crew said.

"Thank you," he sighed, "almost everyone's on board. Go ahead and... get on." It pained him to give that order, for he knew that sealed the end for him.

"Yes, sir," the crew member replied, "Oh, and Commander Tycell was wanting to speak with you before you left."

Joshua perked up a tad when he said that. "Really? Where is he?"

The crew member pointed to some crates before walking off into the _Preamble._ Joshua spotted Aaron leaning against a crate, holding something. Joshua quickly walked over to him.

"Hey, Aaron," he waved as he approached.

"Hey, Josh," Aaron replied. "Here." Aaron pushed a glass of red wine at him.

Joshua gasped silently. "Aaron, I... I can't. I have to go in nine minutes."

Aaron sighed. "Josh, I'm not gonna sugar coat this. We both know what's about to happen."

Joshua stared at the ground. "Yeah."

"So, drink the drink," Aaron insisted. Joshua sighed and gave in. He drank the whole thing in one gulp.

Joshua sat on one of the crates while Aaron refilled his glass. "Remember at Liechtenstein?" Aaron suddenly asked.

"Which one?"

"Border of Switzerland, the Martians were making their 'giant push.'"

"Oh, yeah," Joshua said as recollection filled his mind, "that was our last battle before we were moved to Europa, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Aaron chuckled. "I remember when we were pinned down by the Martians in that really old, school, or something. We had no hope of surviving, our ammo had all been used up. Then, just in a nick of time, you came flying down in the... what was it called..."

"The _Bumblebee?_ " Joshua jogged at Aaron's memories.

"Yeah, that old ship," Aaron remembered, "you came flying down, and held them off just long enough for us to make a break for the border. You had our backs that day." Aaron was silent for a moment. "I wish I could have your back today."

"Aaron," Joshua pressed, "no, you don't. If you were there, we would both get killed. Rather have it be just me, then both of us."

"I guess your right," Aaron sighed. "It just pisses me off that Hecks always thinks he can conquer Rome itself!"

"Don't worry about it," Joshua tried to reassure him, "just... if I don't make it back, look after Bobyo and Ace for me."

"Ah, Ace doesn't need anyone to look after her," Aaron chuckled.

"Where is she?" Joshua asked.

"She couldn't bring herself to come see you off," Aaron filled Joshua's glass back up. He didn't even notice he had drank it already. "She used the excuse that she needed to watch Bobyo, but..."

"Yeah, I know," Joshua sighed.

"Captain!" someone called from the ship, "Everyone is ready and accounted for!"

"Alright. Start her up, I'll be there in a second!" Joshua shouted back.

"Looks like it's time for you to go," Aaron sighed.

"Yeah," Joshua said as he jumped off the crate. "Just, take care of yourself, Aaron."

"I will," Aaron replied, "And if you do survive, call me immediately."

"You got it," Joshua smiled. Aaron reached out his hand to shake Joshua's one final time. Joshua smiled as he grasped it firmly and shook it hardily. "Commander Tycell."

"Captain Smith," Aaron tipped his hat at Joshua before he walked away, wiping something from his eye.

Joshua sighed. This was it. All his plans, his hopes for the future, they were irrelevant now. He turned and walked up the _Preamble'_ s ramp for the last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are. A bit more character development before everything goes to crap. In this chapter, Darknessistheenemy helped develop the character of JoAnna, while my brother focused on John, and myself worked on the back and forth between Joshua and Aaron. That is most likely how it will be in the future: sections with JoAnna being done by darknessisthenemy, John by my brother, and Josh and other major characters by myself. Maybe they will help write other character's parts as well in the future.
> 
> But, for now, I gotta go. I have a chapter about the Battle of Geonosis to write. Thanks for reading!  
> -Kyba Star


	8. Chapter 8

The silence of space, dotted with the many silver stars glowing in the distance, was filled with calm and serenity. Though there was a battle raging on the tan planet below to determine the fate of a senator and two Jedi, the space above was still calm and serene. It was a place that someone who wanted to get away from their troubles and noise could go for some quiet.

Well, until two large space ships suddenly appeared. Though they couldn't be heard, their presence cut off the serenity of the place. They flew toward the battle raging on the planet below, their intentions to help the Jedi and senator. But, you knew that already.

***

Joshua almost flew from his chair as their ship exited hyperspace. "Captain, we've made it," the navigational officer said as he sat back in his chair and looked at the new and more advanced star chart. "At least, I think we have." The star chart, along with a better communications system between the crew and between ships, and something called a hyper drive, were all gifts the Naboo installed into their ships when they had landed here. They didn't know if they would work, or if they would tear themselves apart using them. Honestly, Joshua was almost more afraid of using them than he was of the actual battle, though all tests pointed toward them working fine.

"I'll take whatever I got, Mr. Renig," Joshua said as he scooted back into his seat.

Joshua looked at the main screen on the front of the bridge and saw the tan planet below. He saw tiny red flares at times. _Explosions._ He recognized them from his time as a captain in the Martian War. They seemed like nothing, but could mean a world of difference to the people below. He held back his instinctive urge to order them down to the surface. He waited for Admiral Hecks's orders first. He had no want to rush what was about to happen.

"Sir, message from the _Liberty,_ " the communications officer spoke up.

"Let's here it," Joshua ordered. the main screen flickered from Geonosis to Admiral Hecks's bridge.

"Alright, Captain," Hecks said from his chair, "this is it. Prove to me your strength and your loyalty to your Admiral."

Joshua sighed. He needed to say what gawd on his mind for the whole trip, and since they were about to die anyways, he figured nothing to lose.

"Admiral, we don't have to do this," Joshua started quietly, then raised his voice as he spoke. "We can still turn around and go back to Naboo."

Hecks's confident smile faltered. "Don't you flake on me, as well, Captain. Don't cower like your brother or Commander Tycell. Grasp this victory and receive your deserved glory."

Joshua opened his mouth to speak, but the transmission was cut off before he could. He sighed. His mind contemplated this conundrum. He could turn now, he supposed, but that would leave Hecks alone to fight off any enemy attackers. Plus, if Hecks did survive, who knows what would happen to him. He could be stripped of his rank.

But, then again, the most likely outcome was death for their whole ship, so staying to help keep Hecks alive seemed futile. Maybe he should tur...

"Captain, many incoming enemy fighters," an officer yelled, breaking his thoughts.

"Open fire," Joshua immediately snapped into combat mode. "Shoot laser canons."

"Sir, the ships are tiny. Likely single manned," the officer replied.

Joshua groaned. _That will make this much easier,_ he thought sarcastically. "Fine, then. Fire the mini-lasers."

"Yes, sir," the weapons officer fiddled with his controls as Joshua watched the screen. It suddenly filled with hundreds of tiny brown ships, and the flash of the mini-lasers blowing them to pieces.

The enemy fighters flew around the ship and started shooting from all sides. They aimed for the engines, mainly, while smaller bunches tried to take out the mini-lasers.

"Mr. Crasher," Joshua called to his engineer through his communicator, "how are the Naboo's shields holding up?"

"Ah, they seem to be weak against the enemies attacks," Crasher replied. "They can't adapt with our ship very well. The enemy will break through them after, oh, a dozen, two dozen waves, which won't take much time considering how fast they loop around and attack again."

Joshua flicked off his communicator and addressed his weapons officer. "You hear that, Mr. McKinler? Don't let them get those twelve waves of attacks. Wipe them out first."

"Sir, there are just too many of them," he replied, "they avoid our lasers easily. They are much more maneuverable than expected. We are barely hitting some of them."

"Then, increase... intensity," Joshua stuttered, "Our lives count on it." He had no idea what to do. He was used to fighting Martians, a people barely more advanced then themselves. He had no idea how to fight these aliens who had perfected light speed, and distant travel. He groaned to himself. If only the Naboo had gifted them more advanced weaponry.

A crash sent Joshua to the floor of the bridge. He immediately grabbed his communicator and called engineering. "Mr. Crasher? Crasher!" No reply. "Damn it!" He threw his communicator to the ground. "Everyone get back up. We can't let them beat us that easy."

Suddenly another crash sent everyone back to the ground. Joshua grabbed his communicator again. "Crasher!"

"Sir, they've broken through the shields!"

Joshua looked up toward the screen. He noticed them gathering in a region about twenty kilometers from the ship. They seemed to be regrouping for one final strike. "Fire the laser canon! Now, while they're regrouping!"

"Yes, sir," another officer said. Seconds later a massive ball of energy flew toward the enemy ships and blew up a fourth of them. The fighters whirled around for a second before a second laser hit them. It didn't destroy as many due to them spreading out after the last hit, but it still did the job.

"Lasers again," Joshua commanded. He was answered with lasers flashing on his screen. He sighed to himself as the enemy fighters forgo their plan to regroup and started fly back toward the _Preamble_ for one final attack. "Well," he muttered to himself, "Joseph's neutrality plans are pretty screwed." Odd, how at the end his mind would jump to random things.

***

"It's official then," Palpatine said as Joseph signed the final draft of the neutrality act, "we won't bother you, as long as you don't bother us."

Joseph smiled. "I don't think we can afford to bother you, or the Confederacy."

"Well, I hope that when the time comes, you make the right decision," Palpatine smiled to Joseph.

"I don't know if that time will ever come," Joseph replied.

Suddenly a man ran in panting. "Chancellor, has he signed the treaty?"

"Yes, he has," Palpatine replied.

"Chancellor, I have grave news regarding the treaty," the man panted, "Terran forces have been seen fighting off Confederacy fighters."

JoAnna sighed to herself as Joseph hastily grabbed his comlink.

***

"Keep them away from the engines," Hecks commanded as another wave of enemy fighters flew toward them. He snapped his neck toward the bridge's screen, and stared with malice toward the enemy ships. He grabbed his communicator and called the engineers, "How are the shields holding?"

"They've almost broken through," his engineer replied, "just a few more waves and we're done for."

Hecks groaned as he turned off his communicator. "Keep firing. Don't let them take out the shields."

"Sir," the communications officer called to Hecks, "Governor Smith is trying to get through to you."

"Don't put him through," Hecks answered.

"But sir..."

"We will answer him later," Hecks snapped, "we have more dire things to focus on right now."

"Yes, sir," the communications officer said as he hesitantly rejected Joseph's call.

Hecks fell forward in his chair as the ship rocked suddenly. _I hope Joshua's having better luck than I am,_ he thought to himself.

***

Joshua flew backwards over the back of his chair as an explosion lit the whole bridge up. He quickly stood back up, and called to everyone on the bridge. Most were still alive, but badly injured. Joshua looked around the bridge. He knew he did all he could, yet regret filled his chest. Not something he wished he would have in the end, yet there it was.

He glanced at the screen through the flames on the controls, and noticed they were moving in a different direction. They were moving over the _Liberty_! "What's the meaning of this?" Joshua called to one of the ship's pilots, "Hold position! We don't want to draw them toward Hecks."

"Sir, I'm afraid it's too late for that," Joshua's first mate Henson turned from one of the control panels. "I have already locked us above them.

"Henson, have you lost your mind?" Joshua snapped at him as he took three steps toward him.

"Captain, if there is even the smallest chance you will survive, then we are going to take it," Henson said.

"'We?'" Joshua asked, confused. Suddenly two large arms grabbed his own and pulled him backward suddenly.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you've been relieved of duty," Henson sighed.

"Henson, what are you doing?!" Joshua cried as he tried to fight from the men's grips.

"You are much more important to the survival of our people in this foreign galaxy than the rest of us," Henson continued. "Godspeed, Captain."

"Henson!!" Joshua cried out before the door to the bridge was shut, cutting him off from it entirely. He fought, but was clearly helpless against the two of them. Had their been only one, he probably would have been fine, but against them both, he could do little except let them drag him to an escape pod where they tossed him in.

"Good luck, Captain," one man said as the door to the pod shut before Joshua could run out.

"NO!!" Joshua yelled before his pod was sent sprawling toward the Admiral's ship.

***

"Admiral, an escape pod has jettisoned from the _Preamble,_ " one of Robert's officers called to him.

"How many?"

"Just the one," came the reply after a quick double check.

Robert was confused as to why an escape pod had been launched, but he figured it had to be important. "Try to get it sealed to the airlock. Get whoever is in there on board immediately!"

Suddenly a huge flash of light lit up Robert's screen as the _Preamble_ burst into brilliant orange. _Oh, Captain Smith,_ Robert thought to himself. "They will not have died in vain! He must fight for those that have already..."

A sudden explosion on the bridge cut him off. The explosion was centered right under Hecks and sent him flying off. He landed into the control consoles lined the walls. He fell from them with a groan and no air left in his lungs.

***

"Admiral!" Joshua called to him as soon as he saw Hecks lying on the ground in a bloody heap. Joshua groaned to himself as he slid across the ground on his knees toward Hecks.

"Captain... Smith," Hecks muttered through chipped teeth, bloody gums, and a split lip.

"Yeah," Joshua smiled a little, slightly relieved Hecks hadn't entirely gone yet. "My men forcibly removed me from the _Preamble._ "

"Smart men," Hecks groaned. "Smarter than I had been. I'm sorry I dragged you into this mess. But, now its time for you to drag the survivors out. I... officially promote you to the rank of Admiral. The ship is yours. Save yourself if you can."

Joshua opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He took a second to process what Hecks just said. Admiral? Him? This happened so suddenly from someone he thought had been dead just a minute ago. He looked back at Hecks, but found him to be nothing but a lifeless corpse on the ground beside him.

Joshua sighed. He felt angry. He didn't know what he felt angry at, but he knew he was mad. He knew then that Hecks would be avenged, and he would be the one to do it.

"Admiral," one of the officers said, "Governor Smith is trying to get through."

"Put him through," Joshua said, standing up and walking towards the captain's chair.

The screen flickered from the battle to Joseph's stern glare towards Joshua. "Hecks, what do you think you're..."

"Hecks is dead, Joseph," Joshua cut him off. "He... just did."

Joseph took a step back from the screen when he saw Joshua in the captain's chair. "And... I take it he put you in  charge?"

"Yeah," Joshua replied.

Suddenly another bang rocked the ship. A voice came through Hecks's old communicator and to Joshua's ears. "Admiral, the shields can't take much more."

Joshua was about to open his mouth to give orders when Joseph spoke instead. "Don't worry, my younger brother."

"Excuse me?"

"I took the liberty to prepare some emergency reinforcements for you."

***

The _Independence_ dropped roughly out of hyperspace to reveal the battle raging in the skies. The first thing John saw was the two ships, but one of them was completely destroyed. After a closer look he realized it was his brother's ship! "Get me the _Constitution,_ " John said to his communications officer.

A moment past and Ace's face appeared on the screen before him. She seemed to have something in her eye. "Did you make it okay?" he asked.

Ace nodded before rubbing her eyes and saying, "Yes, sir."

"So, I take it you saw the ship?"

Again, Ace nodded.

"Let's just take care of the enemy for now," John said softly.

"Yes, sir," Ace seemed to regain some composure as she rubbed her eye again before the screen flickered off.

"Lieutenant Foster, get me the _Liberty,_ " John commanded as he let a bit of his anger slide back out. He prepared himself to yell at Hecks and blame him for the death of his younger brother. But as soon as the screen changed to the _Liberty_ 's live feed, John's anger completely dropped. He saw Joshua sitting comfortably and perfectly alive in the Admiral's chair. "Where's the bastard?" John asked.

"Hecks is dead, John," Joshua snapped, "And I would very much appreciate it if you didn't let the same thing happen to ME!!"

"We'll talk about this later. Right now, we got some guys to take care of," John said after processing this news.

"Just hurry up," Joshua said back before the screen changed back into the battle scene.

"Alright," John called to his men, "I don't want total destruction of the enemy fighters, I just want them pushed back so Josh can get away. Having said that, destroy as many as you can."

The _Independence_ flew toward the battle faster than the _Constitution,_ and destroyed a chunk of enemy fighters before they realized the two ships had appeared. Then the _Constitution_ flew by and destroyed another group of them. The enemy fighters flew away from the three spaceships to regroup. As they did, the  _Liberty_ turned to escape. They quickly flew back toward the ship, but the other two ships fired at them as they, approached, spreading them thin until the  _Liberty_ activated its hyperdrive and vanished from the battle.

"He's gone," John smiled. "Now let's get out of here, Ace."

"Yes, Admiral," Ace replied before her ship vanished, followed by the _Independence._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so first major character death. Did anyone actually like Hecks? Tell me if you did. Also, if you didn't notice I took a great deal of inspiration from Star Trek for the Terran ships.
> 
> But most importantly, credit. This one was actually done mostly by myself, while my brother helped a bit with John's section. So, not much to say about that this chapter.
> 
> But, as always, thanks for reading!  
> -Kyba Star


	9. Chapter 9

Ace sighed as the _Constitution_ exited hyperspace. The scene she had just witnessed, it had almost been too much for her. She wasn't promoted to Captain for breaking easily, but a scene like that would break almost anyone.

Almost. She was determined to be the exception, at least for now. She wouldn't show weakness in front of her crew members. She had to remain strong in front of them.

"Captain," her thoughts were shattered, "the _Liberty_ is trying to get through to us."

Ace sighed and put a hand over her forehead. "Put him through." She didn't really want to talk to Hecks at the moment, but she also had some things she needed to say to him.

Once the transmission got through, the first thing she heard was, "I'm sorry."

"Hecks, you think after all this I'm just going to..." she cut herself off. She hadn't processed the voice before she spoke. Could it be? She looked up at the screen as the Admiral spoke again.

"I'm sorry I just... went along with Hecks and scared you," Joshua smiled pathetically from his chair, "And... I'm sorry I made you think I was dead. Even for a second."

Ace chuckled breathlessly to herself as she felt water fill her eyes. "Well, you were only following orders," she managed to sniffle back.

"Yeah, but getting my rank pulled would have been preferable over getting killed in space," Joshua shot back.

"Oh, you know Hecks," Ace chuckled as she wiped her eyes, "he would have court martialed you and had you executed for disobeying orders."

"Nah, Joseph would never let him do that," Joshua smiled.

Ace chuckled through the tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe it. He survived. This man, her fiancee, fought in a suicide mission and lived. She remembered then why she loved him. Well, one of the reasons.

"How did you survive?" Ace asked.

"I'll tell you more about it on Naboo," Joshua answered. "I made a promise to someone I have to keep."

***

Aaron paced back and forth in his small home. A bit small, and oddly built, but he was just one man and he could manage.

He was thinking at the moment. He just heard the news that the _Liberty_ had made it back, but not the _Preamble._ He was thinking of what that meant. Well, he knew what that meant, but maybe there was some way Joshua had made on the _Liberty,_ or maybe he was on Geonosis in an escape pod, and needed rescue immediately.

He was also thinking about what he would say to Hecks. He couldn't stay under his leadership anymore, not after that. But he knew Hecks would try to court martial him. Maybe Governor Smith would understand. He was the most just man Aaron knew. He would make the right judgement call.

Aaron's thoughts were torn asunder by the ring of his comlink. He groaned as he grabbed it. "What?"

"I believe this means I kept my promise," a voice poured through it.

Aaron's serious and somewhat angry expression melted into a massive smile. "Josh?"

"You know it," he could practically feel Joshua's smile through the comlink.

"Haha!" Aaron cheered to himself. He couldn't contain his excitement. He threw his communicator down and ran out of his house whooping to the whole village, "He's alive! Josh survived the mission!! Yahoo!!!"

***

Joshua walked down the ramp of the _Liberty_ with his chin held high. He was surrounded by dozens of people who came to cheer his return, and many more were still coming. He knew he did not survive by his own volition, and would have to give credit where credit was due. But for now, he enjoyed the attention he got.

That he didn't deserve.

At all.

Joshua groaned to himself. "Fine, fine," he muttered. "Hey, listen. Listen!"

All the people around who were cheering and chattering of his heroic victory stopped to listen to him. "Now, I know it seems like I've done something amazing, but truth be told, I didn't do anything," Joshua admitted. "In fact, I would be dead if it wasn't for my brother, Admiral Smith, and..."

"Me!" A voice called from the crowd. The crowd split and Ace stood in the open with an open path between her and the _Liberty'_ s ramp, which Joshua started to stroll down after he smirked at her. "You're welcome."

"Oh, yeah, I can't forget to thank the one who did the least," Joshua grinned.

Ace pulled back a bit, making a fake face of one who had been hurt. "Is that so?" she grinned.

"Yeah," Joshua continued to walk toward her after stepping off the ramp, "I did more with the _Preamble_ than you did to help. If it wasn't for me spreading them thin before John arrived dragging you along, I'd be burning with my ship."

"Is that so?" Ace scoffed.

Joshua was standing right in front of Ace at this point. "Yeah, it is."

"Well, I'm sure..." Joshua cut her off as he pulled her in towards him for a tender kiss. Ace surrendered to her victor and kissed him back.

"Thanks enough?" Joshua asked after they pulled away from each other.

"I think for now," Ace replied, "might need some more thanks tonight, though."

"Ooh, careful, we aren't even married yet," Joshua grinned.

"Hey, lets hear it for Admiral Smith!" Joshua heard Aaron's loud voice call from the crowd. Before Joshua could find him in the crowd, Aaron jumped on his back, holding another bottle of red wine. The whole crowd around started to cheer Joshua's name. He smiled as he soaked it up. They knew he hadn't done anything much. They were just happy he was alive.

***

John stood watching the celebration from a short distance. They were all so excited to see Joshua returned safe and sound. John didn't join them because, well, it really wasn't his thing. But he did have some things he wanted to say to his younger brother.

After the crowd had dispersed, he noticed Joshua walking with Ace back toward his house. John stepped out in front of them and blocked their path, "Ace, can I speak with my brother for a moment? Alone?"

Ace was taken somewhat aback by his request, but happily obliged. She kept walking down the path while John took Joshua aside and walked a different way.

"Hey, thanks for having my back," Joshua smiled to his brother, "I know you really didn't want to cause of Hecks and everything, but... thanks."

John didn't answer him at first. He first reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bottle of Pepsi, his favorite drink, and drank it all at once, before answering. "You know Hecks was wrong to go, right?"

"Yes, I know," Joshua sighed, "and I know that I was wrong to go along with him, and the _Preamble_ and its crew... there all on me."

"No," John said angrily while smashing the glass bottle to the ground, "that's all on Hecks. It's his fault that your crew and ship are gone. The only thing you did is follow orders."

"John, listen," Joshua stopped John in his steps, "I know you and Hecks have had a feud since we were put on Europa during the war, but he isn't the man you're painting in your head. The truth is, when you came to Europa, it was always a challenge about who was the better Admiral. Before that, you two were the best the military had to offer. Now Hecks is dead. Because of himself, yes, but you need to let it go with him. Especially now that he isn't here anymore."

John stood thinking for a moment before answering. "That doesn't mean all of our personal struggles or rivalries are all dead. You still have one of your own."

"Rivalry? John, rivalry is one thing, blaming Hecks for those dead..."

"I'm not talking about Hecks now," John cut Joshua off, "I'm talking about Verts. How long has this been going on?"

Joshua took a step back. "What, his jealousy? Since we were stationed here. Before then, probably. I didn't know Ace before then."

"Well, for what it's worth," John sighed, "You're not a captain anymore, you're an Admiral. And Verts..." John sighed again, "he might try to do something stupid that will get under your skin. And the outcome, lets just say it won't end well for either him or you. Depends on how you handle the situation, of course."

"What are you talking about?" Joshua asked, "He's Jealous, but not desperate. Well, not THAT desperate."

"If there's one thing Hecks and I had agreed on, is that Verts IS a madman," John said, "and he will do anything, and I mean anything, to get you out of the family picture, and put himself there instead."

"But... why?" Joshua asked, "Why would he be acting like this?"

"Profit," John answered, "And I don't mean just money."

Joshua took a moment in silence. John could tell he was wrapping his head around it. He hadn't thought Verts was this desperate either, but his recent behavior that John had seen and Joshua had not proved otherwise. John didn't know why yet, but he was determined to find out.

"Oh, by the way, there's a transport at the mouth of the mountain that'll take you to Theed, where Joseph wants to talk to you," John said breaking the silence. "Just remember, keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."


	10. Chapter 10

"Whoa," Joshua stared with enamored eyes at the glory of the house he had entered. A large room with four white pillars on a red carpet covering the floor with scarlet glory. The walls were built with a yellow type of brick that gave off an almost gold look. On the other side of the room there was a stair case on the right side of the room made of pure white, like a pearl.

"Like it?" Joseph asked.

"It's... amazing!" Joshua breathed. "They must look at you like royalty."

"Well, the Naboo have a queen as their ruler, so it would make sense," Joseph said.

Joshua grinned. "You, a king."

"Not really," Joseph said, "Still just a governor."

"Ah, come on, bro," Joshua nudged his side. "Entertain the thought a little. Besides, you might as well be."

Joseph shook his head and walked toward the stairs, Joshua following him close behind.

At the top of the stairs there was a long hall. It had the red carpet in it still, with a light between every one of the six doors it branched off into. At the end of the hall was an open room with something in the middle of it. Joshua couldn't see what from where he was, but he didn't really care at the moment.

"So, why did you want me here?" he asked

"Well, you are an admiral now, right?" Joseph replied as he entered one of the rooms.

"Yeah," Joshua answered following him. He gasped to himself when he entered. Before him on display was a beautifully trimmed white uniform, with a golden collar and silver cuffs. Several medals were set above the black pocket positioned above the wearers left pectoral. "Is... this my new uniform?"

"Yes," Joseph smiled. "I had it made for Hecks before I left for the Senate. I was going to give it to him when I got back, but... well, you know."

Joshua nodded. "But... It looks nothing like John's."

"Oh, he already has his. Sorry, but you aren't going to get to be special," Joseph smiled.

Joshua's grin grew as he took a step toward the suit. But then he hesitated. He remembered what happened to the his crew and ship. He took a step back. "Sorry, but I... don't deserve it."

Joseph sighed. "Joshua, I know what you're thinking, but the _Preamble_ wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was," Joshua retaliated, "I didn't have to follow Hecks. I could have just refused and accepted the consequences."

"So, disobey Hecks or battle at the risk of dying," Joseph said, "There was no right choice in this scenario. And because of that, I'm not going to punish you for doing wrong."

Joshua slowly nodded to Joseph, but he hadn't been convinced. He had chosen the greater of two evils, and he knew that was the wrong thing to do in this scenario. "And besides," Joshua continued his thought out loud. "There wouldn't be much to command. It would make more sense if Aaron and I were put under John's command. That way, you wouldn't have worry about military things. John could take care of it all."

Joseph sighed. "All right, then. You've made your choice."

"Thanks for the offer, though," Joshua smiled and turned toward the exit.

"But what do I do with this now?" he heard Joseph say behind him.

"Well, it does look pretty kingly," Joshua called over his shoulder as he walked down the stairs.

***

JoAnna leaned against a pillar waiting for her brothers to finish with their "formal stuff." She hated all the technical and formalities that had to happen, but she liked to think of herself as a patient person. It wasn't true, but she liked to think it was.

She turned towards the stairs as she heard footsteps running down them. She saw Joshua run down, but he wasn't wearing the new uniform. He was still wearing his jeans and t-shirt. He looked kind of down, as well. She groaned to herself. _I guess I have to comfort him,_ she thought to herself. Joseph always did suck at consoling. Not that she was good at it, she was just better than Joseph.

"Well, well, well," she said as she pushed herself off the pillar and toward him, "the mighty hero returns from battle."

Joshua's face brightened a hue. "Hi, JoAnna."

"So how was battle?" JoAnna asked. "Have fun? Kill people?"

"Well, I was told they were all robots, actually, so I guess, technically not," Joshua replied.

"Ah," JoAnna groaned. "So, uh, you're not wearing the Admiral uniform. What's up with that?"

"Too much white," Joshua whined, "I prefer my black one, so I'm still a captain."

"Uh, huh. So you didn't take the job, the cool new suit, or the pay raise?"

Joshua glanced toward the ground then back at JoAnna. "It sounds worse than it is."

"You know you're getting married, right?" JoAnna poked. "You're going to need to provide for them. And I don't think captains get paid enough to provide for two kids."

"I... only have one," Joshua said.

"You'll have more," JoAnna said.

"Maybe," Joshua sighed. "but I'll make due."

"Maybe," JoAnna echoed. "So, what you two talk about?"

"Just the suit, pretty much," Joshua said, "And the fight."

"So he didn't mention anything important?" JoAnna asked.

"No... why? Should he have?" Joshua asked cautiously.

"Well," JoAnna said slowly, "um, uh... Ugh, Joseph's probably gonna get mad at me. We have a secret you need to know."

"What?" Joshua said, taking the whole, weird sentence in.

"And I'm saying this because I... I tru... 'trust' you," JoAnna stuttered, "to a degree."

"What, more than Joseph?"

"Haha, no," JoAnna cut, "Not at all. He trusts you way more than me."

"So why wouldn't he tell me?" Joshua asked.

"It's... well, it's... complicated," JoAnna said, "Well, it's not complicated at all. You didn't take the rank."

"So?"

"So only Admirals get to know the truth," JoAnna said.

"So why tell me? And what truth?"

"Because you're my brother and you deserve to know," JoAnna said. "The truth about Europa."

"What? I'm confused," Joshua shook his head a little.

"I'll tell you on the way back to the village," JoAnna said.

"What, you're taking me back?" Joshua asked.

"Yeah. I finally learned how to drive."

"Why do I not trust you at all to drive me?"

"Shut up, and get to the speeder," JoAnna slapped Joshua on the back of the head.

"Ow. Okay, okay, if you say so," Joshua groaned as he left the house with JoAnna trailing behind him continuing with her humorous jabs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darknessistheenemy, once again, helping with JoAnna's character.
> 
> Also, whoa, the mystery deepens.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, not much to this one except some more character development. But stick around for when the good stuff does happen!
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> -Kyba Star


	11. Chapter 11

So, with the neutrality treaty broken, the Terrans had little choice but to support the Republic in their war against the Confederacy. But at the same time, they couldn't do anything to help. Quite a predicament, right? Well, the Naboo told the Republic they were part of a planetary defense on Naboo, which slightly calmed the Senators on Coruscant who demanded their help.

On the bright side of things, Europa had finally settled into its new climate after a year of basking in the Naboo sun. The underground base was damaged, but not entirely destroyed. The ice around it hadn't entirely melted, since it was underground away from any sunlight. only some water had broken through here and there like in the hangers.

But on the flip side, the Confederacy had their eyes on Europa. They had heard about the appearance of the moon and had been secretly watching since. When they saw the Terrans returning to the moon to salvage and repair the base, all they could see was an innocent pile of foreign tech that they could potentially use. Apparently they missed the note that said the Terrans weren't as advanced as their own stuff, but the Terrans did survive Geonosis so we'll have to give them some credit.

Anyways, that's where our story continues.

***

"Watch it, Ace," Joshua called into his comlink, "you've got some bogies on your left."

"Yeah, yeah, I see them," Ace grumbled through. A bright light lit up Joshua's bridge as the enemy fighters were torn apart.

"Good job," Joshua complimented.

"I don't need you telling me how to do my job," Ace growled at him.

"I'm not. I'm just telling you about your surroundings," Joshua defended.

"I have a crew for that," Ace snapped back, "Don't you have your own surroundings to watch."

"I have a crew for that," Joshua grinned.

"Just because I'm pregnant again doesn't mean I can't take care of myself," Ace groaned at Joshua.

Suddenly a laser shot from the _Liberty_ and hit an enemy frigate behind the _Constitution._ "Are you sure?"

"I was just about to take care of him," Ace groaned as she snapped her comlink off.

Joshua shook his head. "Married life."

"Captain, we've got another enemy frigate coming in on our starboard!"

"Alright, fire laser cannon," Joshua commanded. A blue laser shot from the ship and hit the droid ship.

"No damage, it seems"

"Well, fire again," Joshua said, "And don't stop till he's dead. Sheesh, you don't have to tell me what happens after every shot."

"Sorry, sir"

Joshua watched the ship carefully. It fired back at times, but the damage was absorbed by the shields, as was their shots. Suddenly the ship started to turn sideways, exposing its side and making itself a larger target. An odd tactical action. _What are you doing?_

"Fire secondary and third laser cannon. Hit it with everything," Joshua commanded. The bridge was lit with flash after flash of blue laser cutting toward the frigate.

The ship's shields had gone down and it was getting torn apart when another much larger frigate suddenly dropped from hyperspace right above the _Liberty_ and started pounding it with laser fire. Red lights started flashing, alarms were blaring, and the whole ship shook like it was in the top of a baby rattle. "Quick, re-position the cannons and fire up at..."

A huge bang sent Joshua flying from his chair. "Captain, they've taken out the engines! We're going down!"

"Josh?" he heard Ace's voice from his comlink.

_Not now, Ace,_ he thought to himself. He tried to climb back into his chair, but a huge thud made him fall back to the ground and roll around as the _Liberty_ slid through the ground on Europa. The screen glass cracked and the top of the bridge was torn off, leaving nothing between the crew and the outside rubble flying in. Dirt and rocks hit crew and smashed controls. Joshua took a piece of glass from one control panel to the skin right under his left eye, then a medium-sized rock to his left arm, not breaking it, but hurting it.

Once the ship settled, Joshua rose to a sore stand. He could see droids to his right marching across a valley while Aaron and Caleb's men hid in the rocks, protecting a cave that had been changed enough, with a little assistance from Naboo drills, to led to the broken base. It was the one opening they had since the hangers had been flooded. Blaster fire shot back and forth, causing a fury of red and blue bullets. Though Aaron and Caleb had a positional advantage, the droids were much greater in number, and were barely being held back from the cave.

"Get down," Joshua shouted as a group of droids saw them and started to fire. He fell behind a broken counsel as laser fire sliced through the air around them. Two of his crew members were struck down, one shot in the chest, one in the head. A pit fell in Joshua's stomach as he watched them fall to the ground. Joshua gritted his teeth in a silent anger. He would not let his crew die again. He pulled out a mini-gun from its holster on his thigh and fired at the five or six droids that saw them. He shot down three before he had to return to his cover.

"I need any and all able bodies on the bridge. Aaron and Caleb can't hold off these guys on their own," Joshua called out to anyone who could act. A man nodded and ran to the communications panel as Joshua shot down three more droids. The few remaining got a dozen more droids to help them. Joshua barely avoided the return fire, which left burn marks and flames on the control console he hid behind.

"Sir, your message has been sent to as much as the ship that can hear it," the crew member said as he tried to run from the communication controls and get cover, but as he ran, the droids all spammed fire in his direction, and he fell after being hit seven times in his chest, legs, and head.

Joshua took that moment to gun down five of the droids while they were distracted. He hated that his distraction was his own crew, but he assured himself, that no man would die in vain this time. He slipped behind the console before blaster fire flew around him. As it did, five other crew members shot up from their cover and fired on the droids. Joshua peaked towards them as this occurred. They destroyed all but five of the droids that were attacking them. Joshua realized that with the introduction of these new fighters, the droids would call for more reinforcements. He, obviously, could not let this happen, and while they shot at the other five, he shot up and shot each of them down.

Wiping sweat from his brow, he sighed in relief as no other droids seemed to veer from their path towards the cave. "Don't attract attention towards us," Joshua addressed the mangled bridge, "not until the rest of the able crew gets here. Then we will hide in the rubble the ship made and help Aaron with the droids. For now, just watch for any that start to come towards us."

"Yes, sir," chimed their reply, and Joshua nodded in approval.

He decided to take this time to tell John and Ace they were okay. He saw the _Constitution_ shooting down transports with droids in them close to where they were, and decided to call Ace first. John was busy taking care of the giant flagship with the Naboo, anyways. He may not have even known that he was shot down.

"Hey, Ace, just wanted to tell you that we're okay, no broken bones," Joshua groaned as sharp pain shot through his left arm. "At least, I don't think so."

Joshua heard Ace sigh through the comlink before she spoke. "You should have seen that coming. That frigate was clearly moving for another ship."

"Oh, yeah, where is that son of a rusty ship?" Joshua asked, looking into the sky.

"I cleaned up your mess already, darling," Ace retorted, "He wasn't that hard to beat."

"Hey, he had the element of surprise," Joshua retaliated, "I couldn't do anything."

"You could have been smart."

"Oh, now you're telling me how to do my job," Joshua smiled.

"Learned from the best," Ace replied before cutting the link. Joshua shook his head, grinning. He liked making playful jabs at Ace. She wasn't hurt or insulted by them in any way, but she got slightly annoyed with him at times.

Joshua was about to call John, when he noticed, not to far away, a man stumbling along the edge of the rocks in which Aaron and Caleb hid. Joshua thought he recognized him, and looked harder. It was Aaron! What was he doing? Joshua grabbed the arm of the closest man to him, which was his first mate, after seeing Aaron slip behind a rock and not come out. "You're in charge till I get back, but my orders are still to be followed."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Just checking up with Aaron," Joshua said, "he won't answer his communicator, I wanna make sure everything's fine with him."

"Do you want someone to go with you?"

"No, I'll be under the cover of Aaron's men once I hit the rocks. If it makes you feel better, though, you can watch and make sure no droids see me from here. Like a sniper."

"But, I just have this," he held out his small, pistol-like mini-gun.

"Well, you're smart," Joshua patted his shoulder, "you'll make do."

Joshua left his first officer and slipped through of the _Liberty'_ s lacerated roof and walls, leading him into the rubble of the uprooted rocks the _Liberty_ dug up. He crouched behind them for a second, then slid from rock to rock, till they were far and few between, then slowly became more frequent. Soon, he hit the rock he saw Aaron hid behind, and found a hole in the ground behind it. Aaron must be hiding in it. Joshua slid down the sloped side and stared at the place he entered. It was another cave, though this one was much smaller than the one they strove to protect. It probably didn't even lead anywhere.

"Josh?" Joshua heard Aaron's voice come from a corner of the wall, hidden in the dark.

"Aaron, what are you doing down here?" Joshua inquired.

Aaron crawled over toward Joshua, and as he came into view from the dark, Joshua could see. He had been shot in the legs multiple times, and a burn mark had blackened his left shoulder, put above his heart.

"My medics got shot on the way to a safe haven," Aaron groaned as Joshua walked to him instead of forcing him to crawl. "Ironic, I know."

"Where's your other medics?"

"All busy," Aaron sighed, "with wounded much worse than myself."

Joshua nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you don't look too bad. Well, obviously you can't fight, but you shouldn't die from these wounds."

"That's why I crawled in here," Aaron explained. "I can contact my men with my comlink, and still be in the battle while not risking getting myself killed."

Joshua sighed as he looked back up the side of the cave toward the entrance. He could get some medics from the _Liberty_ and help Aaron out. He was about to tell his plan to Aaron when a voice they both knew all too well echoed from further back in the cave. "Look at the both of you."

"Caleb, what are you doing here?" Joshua groaned towards the dark as Caleb emerged.

"Surviving."

"You don't look hurt," Aaron observed. "Why aren't you fighting?"

"That's what my men are for."

"They need a leader."

"I can lead from here, like yourself," Caleb said back, "I'm not going to be idiotic and risk my life like you two."

"Caleb, that's our job," Joshua growled. "Or did you not read the fine print?"

"It's hardly fine print," Aaron said.

"Well," Joshua stuttered for half a second, "Yeah. Wait, yeah, exactly! And what about the men out there dying right now."

"They are not nearly as important as me," Caleb said with a huge gesture to himself, "I am a commander, above them all."

Joshua stood aghast at the words he heard. "They're just as important, if not more than all of us, Caleb."

"Rank says otherwise, Tycell."

"How hard did you hit your head when we came here?" Joshua snapped at him, "Or are you really that stuck up?"

"I have a right to be stuck up!" Caleb roared back, rubbing the back of his head in his sore spot. "I am a Commander of the New World Alliance!"

"So am I!" Aaron chimed in.

"And you aren't any higher in the ranks than me, either," Joshua said, "just on the ground while I cover your sorry head."

"Then you're both fools," Caleb snapped back, then a sly grin split his face as he gave Joshua a eerie look, "not that I care. Once your idiocy gets you killed, Ace won't have to be with someone who doesn't deserve her."

Joshua grit his teeth and made a tight fist with his right hand. "Joshua, calm down," Aaron muttered. "He just wants to get under your skin."

"No, that's not it," Joshua said back, "he's been obsessing over himself and Ace more than normal since we got to this place. And with the addition of that sore you keep rubbing on the back of your head, I'd say that not all of you made it out of our galaxy."

"What?" Caleb said back, clearly insulted.

"You've gone mad, Verts," Joshua said back. "You hit yourself too hard during the ride over here. You aren't fit for duty."

"How dare you!"

"I dare!" Joshua snapped back as he took a step towards Caleb, "and as soon as we get out of here, I'm telling my brother."

Caleb took a step back. "Which one?"

"Both, if I have to," Joshua said in a serious, threatening tone.

Caleb took a deep breath, before a smile split his lips again, "No, you won't."

"try m..."

"Once you lose your ability to!" Caleb whipped out his gun, a gun much larger and better than Joshua's gun, and fired at Joshua. Joshua's eyes opened wide before he felt a burning pain slice through his side. He fell on his side. Caleb walked and stood over him, and pushed his body over till he faced Aaron, "But we can't have witnesses can we?" Caleb raised his gun and pointed it at Aaron. Joshua panicked for just a second, then quickly punched the back of Caleb's knee, causing it to buckle. Caleb's shot went wild and hit the top of the cave.

Joshua slowly rose to his feet and grabbed Caleb's gun. The two of them struggled over it for a while, but Caleb was stronger than Joshua was, and was slowly beating him. Joshua knew he must think of something else. He couldn't beat Caleb in a wrestling match. He needed something that he was better at. The wound that burned his side distracted him much, making it hard to think and making his struggle for the gun even harder. There had to be somethi...

Then it happened. Caleb's foot hit a rock sticking up from the ground, and lost his grip on the weapon, leaving it in Joshua's hands. Joshua was about to praise the sudden ex machina, when the gun fired off in his hands, while pointing directly at Aaron. Both their eyes went wide before the laser sliced through Aaron's chest and into his lungs. There was no dramatic moment, where Joshua had his last goodbyes to Aaron, and Aaron gave off his final wishes. There was just a look of shock, then Aaron's body slumped over and he was gone.

"Ah, well, that takes care of the loose ends," Caleb stood menacingly staring at Joshua while raising his fist, "Now to finish the job itse..."

His sight red with rage, Joshua turned on his heel in a flash and fired a single shot through Caleb's neck, severing his head from his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret nothing.
> 
> As for credit, I wrote this whole chapter myself, but that is gonna change very fast. Darknessistheenemy is already working on the next one, another JoAnna chapter.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and stick around, cause we're just scratching the surface.  
> -Kyba Star


	12. Chapter 12

JoAnna sat in the waiting room outside of Chancellor Palpatine's office, lost in thought. She had finally been given a mission Joseph had decided that she could be of use here rather than sitting around practicing her Basic. Max and Calvin's report had come in a few weeks ago with strange information. The Jedi Counsel had held a meeting discussing the corrupt Senate. Joseph had started research on the many members of the Senate instantly of course, but with there being so many he need an inside man close to the Chancellor to gather information quicker. Since Max and Calvin were already occupied with their mission, Joseph reluctantly allowed JoAnna to go instead. JoAnna was elated to be released from her house arrest, but Joseph warned her to be careful, report regularly, and know that he will be keeping an eye on her.  Now she sat waiting for this meeting to end so she could get on with her job.

The door to his office finally opened. JoAnna stood as two young Jedi walked out. The older man inclined his head to the Chancellor and walked out with his dark haired companion. JoAnna knew who they were of course. Max had mention the two Jedi heroes of the Republic, Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. They had won so many battles in the front lines, freeing slaves to the Separatists and fighting the good fight for the lazy senators of the Republic. Max mentioned getting to know Skywalker's young apprentice Ahsoka Tano.

JoAnna chuckled to herself, _'Max certainly has a taste in women.'_

JoAnna watched the Jedi leave and headed inside meet this so-called leader of the Republic.

***

Palpatine sat in his office, staring out the window, thinking of the future of the Republic and Separatists agendas. He had agreed to meet one of the Terran leaders to speak together. Palpatine smiled and pressed his hands together. A perfect opportunity to use the clueless travelers to his advantage.

He looked up at the young lady who walked in and introduced herself as JoAnna, the Terran's second-in-command. She was easy on the eyes and spoke with a polite tone, even with a slight accent. The thing that caught Palpatine's attention though was her eyes. Eyes that had seen war and flamed with power. Eyes that radiated with the force so much so that they seemed to glow. Her whole species seemed to be very intoned with the Force, but her family particularly radiated with the power of the Force. Her brother, Joseph's aura favored the Light side of the Force, but she seemed to be enveloped in the Darkness, though not completely.

"My brother wishes me to learn the ways of the Senate and the politics of the Republic. I thought who better to teach me than the master himself." JoAnna said, clasping her hands together as she finished speaking.

Palpatine looked her up and down for a bit, _'Yes. She will do nicely.'_

"Well, you make a compelling case. I'll employ you for a trial week and we'll go from there. I'll have your things brought to a private apartment near the Senate."

JoAnna looked shocked,"Oh, you don't have to do that for me, sir" she began but Palpatine cut her off with a wave of his hand

"Nonsense. I insist." he said.

Bowing low to him, JoAnna thanked him and walked out.

Palpatine chuckled to him self and turned back to his contemplation, weaving in the possibility of a Terran ally into his already twisted plans.

***

JoAnna leaned against the wall outside her small apartment watching the Chancellor's men move boxes into her small three-roomed apartment. She scoffed as one man strained to carry a box full of nothing but paints. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Joseph stood beside her silently watching the struggling man carry the box. "Do you really need that much paint?"

"Well, I'm gonna need something to do while I'm bored," JoAnna scoffed.

"I doubt working for the chancellor will leave you with the time to do that," Joseph commented. "Besides, what could be funner than working for the head of the Senate?"

JoAnna gave him a glare that ask him if he was just joshing her, then rolled her eyes again. "When you told me to check out Palpatine, I didn't expect to become a fucking secretary."

"Well, now you're closer to him than anyone else. Even the Jedi," Joseph said after taking a step away from her harsh swear.

JoAnna scoffed, "I've been working for a week. I was lucky to even get the damn job."

Joseph sighed, "JoAnna, I need you here. I don't trust Palpatine. There's something about him. something... dark... I don't know. But I want eyes on him, and you're the best for the job."

"Yeah, yeah, I understand," JoAnna turned her head away, "But I'd work better if you weren't always looking over my shoulder. I do my best work alone."

"Well, I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Joseph said, scratching the back of his head, "I've got some stuff to do at the village, and it'll probably take a while."

"The village?" JoAnna turned back to him with confused eyes, "I thought John had that taken care of? Or did he do something dumb again?"

Joseph chuckled, but it was forced, and awkward, "Well, no. Not him."

JoAnna took a dangerous step toward Joseph, "What do you mean, not him? What happened?"

"Well," Joseph sighed, "alright, a lot happened while you were snagging this job, and I didn't want to tell you about it cause you were already ticked enough at the new job in question, but..." he sighed again, "there was a battle, and... Aaron and Caleb are dead."

JoAnna stood there staring at the ground. "What else?"

"What?"

"That's not enough to warrant your special attention," JoAnna raised her head from the ground.

"We lost two men who helped John keep the village running," Joseph raised himself up in defense. "I think that may warrant my attention!"

"John will manage fine!" JoAnna snapped back, surprised at Joseph's sudden unusual venom, "besides, he still has Joshua to help..."

"No, he doesn't!" Joseph cut her off.

JoAnna's eyes went wide with shock as she took a step back. "Wha... did he... die?"

Joseph sighed, "No, not dead." JoAnna sighed in relief as Joseph continued. "but... after the battle he came to the house and turned in his uniform. Well, tried. I let him keep it."

"But... why?"

"He wouldn't say," Joseph admitted. "Just said he wanted to 'explore the galaxy' or something. I don't buy it for a minute."

JoAnna shook her head,"No way. He wouldn't do that. He barely knows any Basic and now he goes off to who knows where to live with his very pregnant wife."

"That's our brother you're speaking badly of." Joseph warned, a steely look in his eyes.

JoAnna scoffed, but dropped the subject. "Next you'll tell me is Max and Calvin are leaving the Temple."

Joseph looked away and JoAnna knew what had happened. "They are, aren't they?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm picking them up after I leave." Joseph said, his eyes never leaving the ground. "The Jedi weren't supposed to have them for this long. I don't know why they still have them. I figured they would have the information they wanted by now. There doing something we didn't approve of, I'm sure of it." Joseph sighed. "There is really no one in the blasted galaxy we can trust, it seems."

"We better find some way home soon, then, right?" JoAnna asked.

"I don't think there is a way," Joseph admitted. "We just have to strive to survive."

"Well, that's our specialty," JoAnna said, "from Mars to Naboo."

"That's not much to go off of," Joseph said.

"We've been through a lot in the past two years," JoAnna said.

"I have a feeling it's just the start," Joseph groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter Chapter, but full of important information.
> 
> As credit goes, darknessistheenemy wrote the first two parts while I wrote the last part with a little help from her. So give her more credit than me.
> 
> Anyways, that's the end of the groundwork. Now we can get to the good stuff. Stay tuned.  
> -Kyba Star


	13. Chapter 13

John stared at the five identical men sitting around the table with boredom and annoyance in his eyes. Being stuck here getting their people out of fighting in the war again was not how he wanted to spend the evening. Of course, Joseph insisted he take care of the constant demand from the Senate for them to actually do something more in this war than "Defend the Naboo." He scoffed internally. More like the Naboo was protecting them. Just because they fought against Geonosians and didn't die apparently meant they could, as they said in the olden days, "lick the whole rebel army."

"So, what's your army's size?"

"Small."

"Their capability?"

"Stupendous."

The head of the table leaned forward, scooting his helmet slightly to the side, "then why, I ask, do you refuse to help us in this war?"

"You don't think this is help?"

"What, you 'defending' the Naboo?" the clone scoffed. "they're the ones protecting you. But we've seen you fight. You took on the Geonosians and survived, you defended your moon and kept the droids back with minimal loss to your own forces."

John leaned his arms against the table and clenched the lip, "Look, to be honest, I don't even know why I'm here. I'm just a guy who is far away from home, and a stranger in a galaxy I don't belong in. A galaxy that would end our existence should we try to fight against them. My men may be capable, but that doesn't mean they aren't. We are at least three tech ages behind the rest of you."

"And yet you survived against them twice," the clone said, "I'd say that's pretty impressive for three ages behind."

"If you remember, Commander, we lost a ship in the first fight, and the casualties in the second was a quarter of the men who fought, including our commanders. Plus major damage to the _Liberty_ which took almost a year to repair. She's basically fresh out of the docks."

"The perfect time to use her," the commander said.

John groaned. They wouldn't quite would they?

"Do you know why we chose to meet here on Felucia?"

"No."

"Hmm," the five clone commanders grabbed their helmets and stood up, marching toward the exit. "Come with us."

"Okay," John said, a little wary. He followed the men out of the building to the jungle outside. Blue and green alien plants covered everything, and a blue sky almost matching some of the plants. Above the treeline, however, John could see smoke rising. Thick, black smoke. John knew from experience what that meant.

"The droids have already slaughtered half our battalions," the same commander sighed. "We are holding them back, but barely. If we could only get help from one of your ships, then perhaps we could finally push them off this planet once and for all."

John sighed as he contemplated this. "What kind of droids we talking about? And how many?"

"Hundreds of battle droids, super battle droids, destroyers, you name it, its out there," the commander said, "not in tremendous amounts, mind you, but enough to make the jungle red."

John sighed again and thought. What would be good for them? Maybe they could help the clones get rid of the droids, and that way the Senate may get off their backs, and they could show the galaxy they aren't just some exposed strangers in the galaxy. However, on the other side of things, they may be more of a nuisance than a help, and if they do end up being helpful, the Senate might just demand from them even more. He didn't know what to do.

"I have an idea," the commander said, "General Secura is leading a force through the jungle to destroy an droid outpost. You can come with us and see the droids for yourself."

John thought for a second.  Finally he said, "I'm gonna need a pair of binoculars."

"Excellent," the commander grinned at John. "I'm sure you will find this experience..." the clone hesitated as something on his belt began to chime. "Enlightening. Excuse me, Admiral."

John nodded, not really knowing what to say. "Come on," said one of the other four, "We'll get you all set up."

John went along willingly with them, but as he walked away, he noticed the hologram the other commander talked to. It was a hologram of someone in a black hood with an unrecognizable face. Strange that this was their commanding officer. He didn't think too much of it, though, as he was taken into one of the barracks.

***

*Earlier that day*

Joseph stood in the middle of one of the hangers of their former base. Rust was everywhere and everything was slightly wet. A result of the water trapped in the hanger for three years. Only now did they get the chance to drain it. It would have gone faster if he had more help, but with John on Felucia and Joshua gone to some civilian planet, Lothal, he recalled, things had been going pretty slow.

"The second hanger draining has started," said the young man standing in front of him. He wasn't even a soldier, he was fifteen, the son of one of the actual soldiers. They had to solicit the help of the villagers just to get the base properly salvaged. They had barely left anyone on the planet. It wasn't all bad, Joseph would silently admit, because with the moon thawed for about two years now people had started to come back and live here, or gather their belongings, with the hope that maybe they would find a way back home. Only about three hundred of the initial two thousand had stayed in the village.

Joseph nodded to the lad. "Very good. Go ahead and get to the main base and get yourself some salvage."

"Yes, sir," the teen said before running off. All the kids were military kids, so they all held high respect for him and the soldiers. Most, he figured, would become soldiers themselves, should they get the opportunity.

Joseph sighed and turned to another man, an actual soldier. In fact, it was George, his political aid, since he was in politics now (sadly). George had become his second in command after a while, like a vice-governor. Wait, that was exactly what he was. Joseph sighed. He hated politics. But as his vice-governor, Joseph had entrusted him as well as John with a secret project.

"George, how is the engine going?" Joseph asked slightly hushed.

"That's what I came to tell you, it's finished," George replied happily and with tired relief in his voice.

Joseph raised an eyebrow at him. "Geez, George, you sound like you built the whole thing yourself."

"Sorry," George rubbed an eye, "I've been watching the workers nonstop all night."

Joseph made a confused and concerned face. "I didn't tell you to work all night. Why?"

"Another reason I came, sir," George said, "We got a transmission from your sister. She said we needed to finish the project now, because something was brewing on Corasaunt."

_How did JoAnna know about the project?_ "What's brewing?"

"She wouldn't say," George admitted. "She was very vague. I was going to tell you last night, but you were busy with other things, and I could never get a moment to you till now, so I had them work. I knew that you would have probably authorized it anyways."

"Well, you were probably right," Joseph said. "Did JoAnna say anything else?"

"Yes," George confirmed, "She also said that whatever it was was likely going to happen later today."

"Then you were definitely right," Joseph said. JoAnna may have been crazy and done some... questionable things, but if she said something was likely to happen later today, something was going to happen. "Is that it?"

"Yes," George said.

"Then I need you to oversee the second hanger," Joseph commanded softly, "it's being draining right now."

"Alright," George said as he walked away. Suddenly Joseph's call echoed through the hanger.

"You're sure it will work?" he asked.

"I can't be certain," George admitted, "It isn't exactly the type of thing you can't test. But I'm pretty sure it will. Or, at least once."

"Once?"

"It takes tremendous power," George said, "We'll probably have a blackout on the base if we do end up using it."

"Great," Joseph muttered to himself as George left. "Let's pray we don't use it."

***

JoAnna stared at the robot with intense eyes. It held its staff close to its chest, a bad defensive choice. JoAnna jumped forward and sliced at the robot's right shoulder with her crimson blade. It made contact with the staff made of that Zulla beast's hide, or maybe a clone of it, she didn't know.

The robot used its strength and pushed her blade back, but JoAnna knew it possessed more strength than her. It was a robot after all, so she used this and swung toward his legs. It brought its staff down to block, but at the last minute, JoAnna swiped up, and cut through the robot's mechanical chin, and sent a clean cut severing its face in half.

She deactivated her lightsaber as the light in the room slowly brightened to a calm white color. Her master, Palpatine, walked up beside her with his hands behind him. "Well done."

"Thank you, master," JoAnna said. Supposedly that robot was on a very high difficulty, even though she could tell from its defensive stance and its slightly slow reaction time that it was given more credit than due.

"Though, I will admit, it was not as high of a difficulty as I let on," Palpatine said with a even, calming voice. "But telling you that served a purpose. If you are to teach the future of Inquisitors for my empire, you will have to show the full extent of your power, even against the weakest of foes, to show them the true power of the dark side."

"Yes, master," JoAnna bowed slightly. Palpatine let out a scraggly smile. He nodded to someone outside the room after finishing his short lecture. An alien humanoid man walked into the training room, clad in black and grey, grey that matched the tone of his skin, save the red lines on his face and balled head, matching eerily with his glowing yellow eyes.

"Grand Inquisitor," Palpatine turned to JoAnna, "Madam Inquisitor, my empire shall rise today, and so shall your brothers and sisters."

"Very good, master," the Grand Inquisitor said with a slight bow.

"Once the empire has been established, you will answer to my new apprentice rather than myself," Palpatine said.

"You have a new apprentice?" JoAnna said suddenly.

Palpatine slowly turned to her as his smile grew, "Not yet, but I will soon."

"May I ask, Master, who it is?" the Grand Inquisitor asked.

"That I will not say, for he will be a new man when I have finished with him," Palpatine said, turning to him, "However, when you meet him, you will address him as... hmm..."

"May I make a suggestion, Master?" JoAnna respectfully asked.

"Yes, Madam Inquisitor?"

"Darth Vader, my Master," JoAnna said, slightly proud of her suggestion.

"Hmm... yes," Palpatine chuckled, "I like that. You will address him as Lord Vader when you meet him."

"Yes, Master," JoAnna and the Grand Inquisitor said in unison.

Palpatine turned and left the room. He chuckled to himself as he left. "Everything is falling into place." He let out one more eerie chuckle before he was out of earshot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guess what? I'm sick, and had nothing better to do, so new chapter!
> 
> So, I wrote most of this one, but my brother did help a little with the first part.
> 
> And, like Palpatine said, its all falling into place. Next chapter.  
> -Kyba Star


	14. Chapter 14

John almost tripped over a root sticking out of the muddy ground. John's foot sunk into the mud almost tripping him again. A clone grabbed his arm and kept him from falling. He brashly pulled him out of the mud and let go of his tight grip around John's arm. John rubbed his arm as the clone walked away. They had been a lot more brash and distant since they dressed him in his new green t-shirt covering his armor and black pants. Instead of the chivalrous attitude of the commanders, they now seemed like they were rushing to get something done.

"This should be good," John heard a clone mutter to his partner. What did he mean by that? Something in his tone left John with a bad feeling in his gut.

Leading their little group stood General Secura, a blue twi'lek Jedi master, an odd alien, John thought to himself. She had no hair, but two head tails protruding from the back of her head. John was almost fascinated by it, except he had seen stranger things in the past three years.

John looked back to the suspicious clones. They were muttering about something. John, whose trust was lessening by the second, leaned in closer to hear what they were saying. Suddenly they clicked off their safety and started pelting Secura with laser fire. John stared with a shocked look on his face. "What the Hell!?"

The clones turned to him, as if suddenly remembering his presence, and started shooting at him. John instinctively fell on his front while pulling out his gun and started to shoot down two of them. The other clones seemed to be caught by surprise when he did this, and he took the opportunity to jump up and escape. The clones shot at him as he ran, but as soon as he reached a cluster of trees, they couldn't get a clear shot.

"We need to get him," one clone shouted, "we can't have a witness."

"Leave him," another said, whose voice rang with authority, "if he tries to leave those woods, we'll find him quick enough. Besides, he won't be the only witness among the hundreds of Jedi that are dying right now. They won't be able to do anything once Palpatine establishes the empire."

"Yes, sir," another clone replied. John couldn't tell if it was the same one or a different one. They all sounded the same. But in the end, he didn't care. He stood leaning against a tree panting. What had he just witnessed? It all happened so fast. He rubbed his face with his black glove. He decided not to think about the incident for now. He had to get back to Joseph and tell him what happened. But he couldn't use a comlink, or the clones might intercept it. He had to find a way off this rock.

He groaned as he started walking through the woods. He hoped Joseph would stay safe till he got back.

***

"Joseph, can you here me?"

"Yeah," Joseph answered his sister, "what is it? And why are you whispering."

"Don't worry about it," JoAnna replied, hastily brushing the question away. "Right now you need to start warming up that engine. Palpatine is addressing the senate right now about some... Jedi attack in his office, or something? Jedi are getting killed left and right all around the galaxy, and the temple is in flames."

"How does this affect us?" Joseph asked.

"Because Palpatine knows you guys don't have a solid alliance with the Republic, so he is going to force you to consent to his new empire," JoAnna answered. "He asked me if you were on Naboo or Europa. I told him Naboo, so when he's done addressing the Senate, he is going to destroy Europa as an example of 'power' and force you to pledge the villages allegiance to his empire. I told him Naboo so you could get away and make it seem like to the rest of the galaxy as if he did destroy you. Had I said you were on the moon, he would have destroyed the village."

"What?" Joseph stood aghast when she said this. He didn't bother replying, cause he knew that the engine would take too long to warm up, so he knew he had to start now, and gain as much time as possible.

"George," he switched his comlink to connect to George's, "get the engine warmed up."

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I'll tell you later," Joseph brushed it away. "Just get it on, now." He switched his comlink off before George could ask more questions. He then turned and started heading towards the engine.

***

"Are the ship's ready?" Palpatine asked the clone commander on Naboo.

"Yes, my lord," he replied through the blue hologram which fizzed and cracked with static.

"Good, then tell them the time has come," he smiled, "destroy that moon."

JoAnna stood behind him in silence. She wanted to help her brothers, but her place would be valuable in the future, seeing how close she was to the now emperor of the galaxy. He turned to her and smiled a creepy grin. She suppressed the urge to cringe when she looked at his deformed and burnt face. "How do you feel," he asked, "knowing that your only piece of home is about to burn into nothing?"

"'Home' you say," JoAnna replied, keeping her face emotionless and blank,"That place hasn't been my home for eight years." _'My home is Earth. Not that piece of space crap.'_

Palpatine regarded her thoughtfully for a while then turned away. "You really must explain your relationship to that moon eventually."

He walked to the door then stopped, turning his head toward her, "Tell me, who becomes the new leader of your race if your brother dies?"

JoAnna blinked, "I do of course."

"And what will you do if you are placed as the new leader of the remaining Terrans?"

JoAnna turned away from him,"Whatever you ask, my Master."

***

Joseph stood staring at the massive engine. It was almost prepared for action when his comlink rang. "Joseph, you got ships heading towards Europa right now to blow you guys out of the sky," JoAnna said through static and interference, "is the engine ready?"

"Almost," he replied, "I don't think they'll have time to..."

"Sir!" someone called from the engine's control room, "twelve republic war ships just arrived. Their weapons are primed."

"Yes, they do," JoAnna said, "You need to hold them off somehow."

Joseph sighed. He couldn't hold off twelve Republic ships. His own ships would be torn to shreds. He had only one option as the base began to rock under laser fire hitting the surface and digging down towards them. It was a risky move, and they may not survive it, but it was a better chance than the one staring them in the face and making the base red with lights and alarms. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Joseph switched off his comlink and headed to the control room.

"How long till its fully prepped?" he asked as he walked through the door.

"Seven minutes," George replied.

Joseph groaned. That wasn't enough time. "Urgh okay, I'm going to tell you to do something incredibly risky."

"Sir," his comlink rang. He groaned. What now? "One of the ships is trying to contact us."

What did they want? "Patch it through to the engine room."

There was a sound of frequencies adjusting before a clone's voice cut through the air. "Commander of the moon, surrender now and we might consider sparing."

"Sorry, but the word consider really puts the deal into bad perspective," Joseph said with a tiny bit of malice. "Not to mention you added 'might'"

"Governor... Smith?"

"Don't worry, you won't stay long to tell anyone," Joseph remarked, "cause we've got an ace you haven't seen yet."

"What?" the clone's voice was filled with confusion at the statement.

Shoot. Earth metaphor. "Uh, we... have an idiot's array up our sleeves."

"And what is that?"

"Well, as we speak, my secret project is warming up, and when it is finished, it's going to blast you out of the sky," Joseph said, the confidence in his voice fighting to stay as the ground rumbled around him.

"Hah," the pompous commander laughed, "No weapon is strong enough to shoot all of us down before we lay waste to your pathetic 'world'"

"It's not a weapon," Joseph's smile wavered a bit as the ground shook once more, this time sending several men to their knees, and one redheaded man flat on his face. "It's an engine, designed, if necessary, to send us halfway across the galaxy into a region untouched by the Republic."

The commander scoffed. "And why would you make such a device?"

"Because I never did trust anyone in this galaxy, save the Naboo. This engine was in case my gut was correct about this galaxy," Joseph explained. "Should it turn out to be nothing, we would have just continued to make modifications to it till it was powerful enough to send us home."

"And how were you able to create such a device?" the commander questioned, clearly questioning the existence of such a device.

"Well, simple. We found out our computers recorded how much force it was that shot Europa to this place," Joseph said as a large rumble sent everyone to their knees, save himself, but only because he gripped the control panel in front of him to keep himself upright, "We told the Naboo about it, and they provided us with resources to construct it. They even gave us a few tips. We never told them its other purpose, because then they wouldn't trust us as much. I can see now, though, that we should have told them. They probably would have understood and they would be here to help destroy your ships now."

"They could do nothing to us," the commander pompously stated, "We have the power to wipe out your entire moon, you think the Naboo could stop us?"

Joseph folded his arms for a second, then grabbed the panel again as the base shook with a quake worse than the previous one. "I didn't know some clones were programmed with pride."

"Only when pride is due," he replied, "And wiping out an entire moon certainly calls for at least a little self-praise."

"You won't blow this moon up," Joseph said determined, this time standing without support from the controls though the base shook around him.

The commander was somewhat intimidated by him; it was obvious. His pompous voice grew a little quieter and his upright posture shrunk a tad. He groaned, nonetheless. He still doubted the existence of the engine. "Even if you did have such a device, why would you tell me all of this?"

"Because, like I said, I needed time for it to warm up," on cue, one of the engineers pressed the launch button and the engine started to glow red as gears and pistons started to turn and pump.

"I've had enough of this," the commander turned to one of the crew, "finish them off."

Joseph turned to a different screen where an image of the twelve warships was displayed. Joseph watched as their weapons all turned toward the surface of the moon and fired. It shook the whole base, sending Joseph and everyone else to the ground, no matter what they tried to do to keep themselves upright. Joseph groaned as he shook along with the ground under the blasts which, as he saw from the viewing screen, were tearing through the surface and digging rapidly towards the base at the center.

 _Cutting it a little too close,_ Joseph thought to himself, and silently wondered if it would actually work. He wasn't even sure if the engine had warmed up all the way. For all he knew, they could explode into nothing just as the clones had planned. But as he took a second look toward the engine as it prepared to fire, he knew his doubt was wrong. _Too late._

_***_

Akila stared into the sky where the lights were flashing around the Terran's moon. She wasn't sure what was going on up there, but she hoped it wasn't anything bad. She had met a few Terran boys. She kind of liked them, to be honest. They were strange, but in a disconnected kind of way, which made sense, since they weren't native to her planet, or even her galaxy, so she heard.

"It's Republic war ships," her father said, breaking her from her thoughts. "They're raining hellfire down on the moon."

"Why?" Akila asked.

Her father shrugged. "Maybe they were in league with the Jedi. I heard that they had one of their own in the Jedi temple."

"I heard they had two," Akila said back, "two brothers."

"Well, I guess we'll never..." he cut himself off as a huge light flashed where the moon was, followed by a deep but loud _boom!_ Akila gasped as she saw no more moon in the sky.

"What happened?"

Her father looked again through his telescope. "It looks like the Republic ships succeeded. But I don't see them up there."

"What?" Akila said confused, "Where could they have gone?"

Her father stepped back from the telescope and sighed, putting a hand through his hair, "I don't know. Maybe the explosion destroyed their ships as well. I think I saw a little metal among the rubble." He frowned. "Come to think of it, there wasn't as much rubble as I expected there to be."

"Father?"

"Yes, Akila?"

"Not all of the Terrans were in the moon, right?" she asked hopefully. "There are still some in the village, right?"

"Yes, but I figure not nearly as many as before," her father replied. "Maybe... three hundred of the original two thousand. Or something around those figures."

Akila nodded. She didn't know why this had happened, but she intended to find out, one way or another.

***

John sighed as he slumped against the tree trunk after climbing countless branches to reach the top. From here, he could see the stars twinkling in the night sky and shining down on him, and from here the clones couldn't find him, even if they did change their minds and send out a search party to find him.

He sighed into the night sky. He wondered about what was going on by Europa, and if anything bad had happened to them. He hoped to somehow get back to them, but he didn't know how he was going to escape without the notice of the clones waiting for him to reappear. He rubbed his thick beard. Maybe Joshua had the right idea to leave.

He looked up once again and saw a shooting star shoot past through the air. He smiled at it, despite the situation. Though he didn't believe in wishes and crap like that, he decided to make an exception, just this once. Maybe it would help his impossible circumstance. He wished to the sky that Joseph was okay back on Europa, and he would eventually find his way home.

Little did he know, he had wished upon his brother.


	15. Chapter 15

Part Two...


	16. Chapter 16

The green grass stretched out along the ground blowing calmly in the soft breeze that kept the heat from the sun overhead regulated, along with some thin clouds that floated softly in front of it. The hills rolled gently across the peaceful field, never once interrupted, save the tall tower just outside the massive city. It stood as a thin pillar, except for the top, which expanded into a large room and a platform rimming it. Beyond it, the grassy hills continued onto the horizon, sending a feeling of peace and tranquility across all who saw it.

A tranquility, that was all but misplaced.

The speeder roared as it flew over the grass, parting it like a canyon with its power. The crate it dragged didn't help it go any faster, which was the opposite of what Ezra wanted at the moment.

The roar of Ion engines filled the air as a TIE fighter came speeding towards them, firing green shots that almost hit their speeder. Ezra ducked his head as another flew by. "Whatever is in this crate must really be worth it." Another shot flew and exploded right in front of them. "Better be worth it!"

"While I know thieving is a crime, especially from Imperials, this still seems a bit..." Seto cut himself off as a bolt exploded by the crate he was kneeling on, "Eccentric."

"Eccentric?" Ezra bit back to his companion his dragged along, "they're trying to kill us!"

"Man, they take these things way to personally," Seto commented.

Ezra shook his head. As much as he loved his companion, who had become like a brother to him in the past eight years, there was a time and a place. This wasn't the place. Or time.

"What's that?" Seto looked up towards the sky above them. Ezra followed his gaze and saw a huge ship, shaped like a diamond, yet lacking the shiny luster. In fact, it looked like it had been parked on a dirt patch for three years. Time for a cleaning, he wagered.

A ramp dropped from the ship and a man with a goatee stood looking down on them, not particularly happy. Ezra figured it was because they had stolen the speeder and its cargo from him. He slightly smiled as he remembered their escape. Especially when Seto got flattened by the Mandalorian girl.

"Oh, hey!" Seto called. "Come to take back this? You can have it, and the prize that comes with it." just then the TIE fighter unleashed another barrage of fire at them. He was a terrible aim, luckily for them. Or, maybe not luck. Ezra had often joked with Seto about how notorious the empire was for missing their shots.

"You want a ride or not?" the man called down to them, not amused by Seto's jabbing at him.

"Oh," Seto seemed surprised and a bit ashamed by his jab. He obviously hadn't expected this man to offer them that.

"Yes, very much so," Ezra answered for Seto as he stopped the speeder. The man stood, his frown never wavering, and increasing as Ezra detached the cargo from the speeder.

"Leave it, you'll never make it with it," he shouted down.

"Bet!" Seto yelled back up to him. While it was true the ship was fairly high, both Seto and Ezra knew that wasn't going to be a problem. Ezra jumped with all his strength and landed the box neatly down on the lowered ramp. The man's face changed to a look of shock as he helped Ezra into the cargo hold.

Seto appeared a moment later, landing on his feet, then loosing his balance and falling into the chest of a bearded man, who frowned down at him with folded arms. "His was cooler," the man said, pointing at Ezra.

"Whoa!" Ezra's eyes opened wide as he looked into the contents of the open crate. He grabbed one of the guns to look at it close. "Do you have any idea how much these are worth on the black market?"

"I do, actually," the goatee man said as Seto walked next to Ezra and started to observe the gun as well.

"Don't get any ideas," a huge alien stood opposite of Ezra on the other side of the crate, leaning forward to sneer at Ezra with his purple hair hanging from his chin wobbling as he did.

"They're ours," Ezra bit back, gesturing gently to Seto.

"Yeah, we didn't have to jump in here," Seto shot back.

"You did if you wanted to live," the goatee man said, walking up next to them.

The light purple alien growled as he snatched the gun from Ezra. "If you hadn't got in our way..."

Ezra leaned toward the alien, though he still dwarfed Ezra with his height. "Too bad. We got to them first."

"It's not who's first; it's who's last," the goatee man said, pushing Ezra from the crate. Ezra sneered at the man as the alien's face turned into smug satisfaction while still holding his anger at the two lads standing in front of him.

"Keep an eye on our friends here," said the man with the goatee, and also a pony tail, Ezra realized seeing him up close. He climbed up a ladder as the three figures in the room looked collectively at Ezra and Seto.

The first figure was the Mandalorian girl who had laid Seto flat earlier. She stood with her paint-splattered armored arms crossed under her chest. Ezra sensed a frown under her face. The second was the huge alien who still glared with anger at them.

The third was the figure of a human with a full beard, not just the simple goatee of the other man. His features were definitely human, but they felt off, somewhat. Come to think of it, it was the same off feeling Ezra sometimes got by looking at Seto. They were definitely human, but they just seemed like they didn't belong to the human race. Ezra couldn't explain why, they didn't seem different, at least on the surface, but something about them was just strange, this man more so than he had ever felt with Seto.

The alien grabbed the crate and pushed it to the side. Ezra decided to sit on it to keep the other three from doing anything he didn't think they should, and Seto leaned on the ladder which hung next to Ezra's crate.

"Look, we were just doing the same thing you were doing: stealing to survive," Ezra decided to press on against the huge alien.

"You have no idea what we were doing," the alien said threateningly, grabbing Ezra's shirt, "you don't know us."

"Hey, lay your hands off," Seto grabbed the aliens arm and pushed it off Ezra's shirt.

"Practice what you preach," the bearded man grabbed Seto's arm and pushed him so hard his back struck the cargo hold's closed ramp.

"Hey, I don't appreciate you pushing my friend around like that," Ezra said, jumping off the crate.

"That wasn't a push," the bearded man growled like the alien, "this is!" He grabbed Ezra's shoulder and shoved him into a bunch of crates. Ezra groaned and jumped up, trying to not seem like he was actually hurt.

Seto glared at the bearded man, and started to march toward him, but Ezra gently shook his head at him, which made him reluctantly stop his approach. "Whatever," he turned to the alien, "I don't want to know you. I just want off this burner."

"Trust me, nothing would thrill us more than tossing the two of you out!" the alien said, taking a dangerous step toward Ezra, "While in flight."

"You'd have to actually grab us first," Seto smirked. "Something you couldn't do earlier."

The bearded man turned towards Seto. "Well, then let's have a rematch." He took a step toward Seto, but Seto practically jumped forward under his arm and stopped next to Ezra.

"And when it's over," the man looked at him dangerously. "I'm gonna put you in a body bag."

"Whoa, a little dark there," Seto chuckled. "And here I thought you were the people fighting the good fight, against our evil empire." He gestured dramatically as he said the last phrase. He chuckled a little, "What, do you just steal cause you can?"

The bearded man took a step towards them. "An itty, bitty body bag." He grabbed something on his belt. It was a knife, a knife with two sharp sides, only one side had jagged teeth up until a little before the tip.

"Leave the blue-haired one for me," the alien cracked his knuckles.

"Oh, I was going to leave him for you anyways," the bearded man's expression changed slightly to be more friendly as he addressed the alien. Clearly they were fairly good friends, at least. Though Ezra failed to see how anyone could befriend that waste of space.

Suddenly the whole ship shook. The alien stumbled forward and clumsily fell on top of Ezra. Seto tried to grab Ezra, but the alien pinned him before Seto could do anything.

"Get off," Ezra groaned as Seto started to push the alien off Ezra. "I can't breath.

The alien pushed Seto back into the crates as he raised himself up. "I'm not that heavy in this gravity."

"Not the weight," Ezra groaned as he stood up.

"You stink," Seto finished Ezra's sentence, though not exactly how Ezra would have wanted.

The alien was taken aback by this and twisted his face into a huge angry frown. "Don't like the air quality, do ya? Fine. I'll give you your own room!" he grabbed Ezra's leg and dragged him into a smaller compartment in a separate room. Seto tried to pry him loose, but the alien grabbed his arm and pulled him off the ground, too, almost pulling his socket out. He tossed them both into the tiny closet, closing it tight.

***

Cirk Concord tilted his head as he wondered something. "Do you smell?"

"Of course not," Zeb said, hurt he would even hint at such a thing.

"Really?" Sabine shook her helmeted head, "I don't buy it. Have you even ever looked at a refresher?"

"Of course I have!" Zeb defended. Cirk didn't buy it either. He took a step toward Zeb and sniffed the air. "Ugh. Nope you really do reek."

"Okay, fine I smell. But at least those kids gave me a reason to get rid of them," Zeb groaned.

Suddenly, Kanan's voice chimed in from the ship's speakers. "Guys, where are the kids?"

"Calm down, chief," Zeb said, reaching for the door, "They're in..."

The door slide open to reveal the closet to be completely empty. Zeb scratched his head as he noticed the vent was open. "...here."

***

"Ezra," Seto whispered behind Ezra's foot.

"What?"

"This isn't that... easy for me," Seto admitted as Ezra almost kicked him to push himself along in the vents. "I'm bigger than you are."

Around them the tight corridor of the vents squeezed their bodies into a tight fit, one Ezra fit much better than Seto. Seto's shoulders were much broader than Ezra's. He got stuck more than once. Around them they could here the commands of the goatee man as he ushered others to find the two boys they had lost. Seto felt a certain satisfaction in hearing that, and he knew Ezra had a smile on his face.

"Oh, come on," Ezra said, "you're not that much bigger than me."

"I'm a good two years older than you," Seto retaliated. "You'd be surprised how much you grow when you hit sixteen. You'll probably want to cut your hair short just to feel not so tall."

"Well, that's why you're behind me," Ezra said, "And, 'cut my hair short'? I doubt I'll ever do that."

"Well, you never know," Seto replied as his foot got caught rounding a corner. he groaned as he worked it around the wall and his other leg, trying to find space to move it to. "I think you'd look good with short black hair."

"At least my hair is naturally black," Ezra chuckled back to Seto. then his voice's mood seemed to change. "Not that 'blue' that that alien was talking about."

"I think he's what's called a Laysat," Seto said, butchering the pronunciation. "And to be fair, it does kind of look blue sometimes."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Ezra said, seeming surprised.

"I thought... you... knew..." Seto said, groaning as he inched forward in a spot that seemed tighter than before. "It looks like your dads."

"I thought the blue had faded out," Ezra admitted.

"Well," Seto thought for a minute. "What's wrong with blue hair."

"It just seems kinda... weird, I don't know," Ezra replied.

"Nah, it just makes you unique," Seto assured him.

Ezra chuckled. "Sure, sure."

Suddenly the part Ezra laid on gave way and he fell with a gap. "Ezra?" Seto peered over the gap and saw Ezra climbing into a seat with a control set in front of it. They looked like the controls to a gun. Seto wondered what Ezra was seeing, if he was sitting in front of a gun. There must have been some sort of window so the person could see their target.

"Whoa," Ezra awed. Seto grew antsy.

"What do you see?"

"Seto," he gasped, "We're in space!"

Seto gasped. Space? they had always dreamed of going to space. Even before they became street rats. Seto's father used to tell stories about when he was in space. He promised that someday, he would take Seto and his brother into space so they could experience it. But then, the troopers came, and he was all alone.

Well, not all alone. He found Ezra shortly after the incident. They had been together since then, stealing what they could to survive, and watching out for each other. They had become like brothers. It did help that their fathers knew each other before the troopers came and dragged them away.

Suddenly the whole ship rumbled and Seto fell through the gap, landing next to Ezra. He got up and looked through the window to see countless starts in an ocean of black. He stared in awe of the size of it, until one of the stars started firing green laser bolts at the ship.

"Oh, great," Seto said as he ducked down, though there was really no point to, "we finally get to space just to die in it. Well, at least we can scratch it off the bucket list."

"The bucket list is still at the tower," Ezra said.

Seto sat silently for a second. "Karabast," he finally spat.

Footsteps rang behind them. Ezra was still enamored with the sight to notice, but Seto saw the Mandalorian walking through a short corridor towards them. Seto sprang up when he saw her, and walked to block her path. But instead of stopping, she just pushed him forward against the chair, which pushed Ezra out of it. Seto and Ezra both looked up at her to see her pull her helmet off, relieving her blueish hair with light brown tips, and hazel eyes that gazed down at them matching the frown on her lips.

Ezra immediately became enamored by her, while Seto sat against the wall wondering how he had been laid down by the girl again. She was tougher than she looked, he concluded. No way it was because he over imagined how strong he was. Couldn't be.

Ezra soon got up and started talking. "My name's Ezra. What's yours?" The girl rolled her eyes while Seto silently rooted for Ezra.

Suddenly the alien's brawny arm grabbed Ezra's shoulder and pulled him to his face. "My name's Zeb, you lothrat."

"And I'm Seto," Seto stood up and ripped Ezra from Zeb, which almost made Seto knock himself over. "And now that we all know each other..."

"Calculations complete, but we need an opening," a female voice said from the speakers.

"Found one," the Mandalorian said as she blasted a TIE fighter into oblivion. The ship flew straight through the destruction.

"Entering hyperspace," the voice said again. Ezra and Seto both looked towards the window. The stars started to stretch until they were surrounded by blue streams of light, which morphed into a blue vortex. And just as fast as it appeared, the ship started speeding through it.

***

John sat staring at his desk. He contemplated the things that happened. It was odd. The kids surprised him, especially Seto.

What was it about him? He looked familiar, but John couldn't say why. He groaned at the thought. It churned his mind, begging to find its answer.

John groaned and glanced at a photo. He gasped and looked back at it. He thought he saw Seto in it. No, it was just a picture of himself, Joseph, Joshua, Ace, and the two young boys, Max and Calvin. John wondered what had happened to those boys.

"Cirk, We're at the transport. Come on, we need to go," Zeb called to his room.

"Okay, I'll be right out," John called. He sighed as he stood up. _Business as usual._

John opened the door and once more put on the facade of Cirk Concord.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been reading this series called the Rune Breaker. It's not a fan fiction, it's its own thing, but I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from it. And besides they're really good books.
> 
> Also, let me say it's a lot easier to describe stuff when you see it then when you have to come up with it off the top of your head. This chapter really goes to show that. Also, sorry it's so long. They won't be this long again. Probably. By the way, I wrote pretty much this whole thing
> 
> Also, thanks for five hundred hits! Even though most of those were probably accidental clicks and people who left after reading the first three words, but still! Thanks!
> 
> And, last thing, surprise! There's a part two! There will also probably be a part three later so, yeah, this thing is going to be fairly long.
> 
> Thanks for reading, as always, and thanks for five hundred.  
> -Kyba Star


	17. Chapter 17

**_*Ten years prior*_ **

"And be sure never to play nice with the other kids and kick their ass," JoAnna said as she straightened back Jayleen's shirt and made sure her hair wasn't blocking her eyes, "Kick all the asses."

"Yes, mom," Jayleen said, listening aloofly as her excitement grew to get on her way to the Inquisitor academy. She could just imagine it. All alone, only at age five! Well, almost alone.

"And you," JoAnna shifted her gaze to her adopted son, Damian, "take care of your sister. If anyone bullies her, let them. Jayleen will eventually tear their arms off," she turned her gaze to Jayleen. "Right?"

"Yes, mom," she sighed, as she had already answered that question ten times.

JoAnna turned back to Damian, "After they're laying on the ground in pain, deliver a quick one-liner of some sort before kicking them in the balls. Or boobs, provided it's a girl. Both, if you can."

"I will," Damian said, as eager as his sister, "Mom, we're ready. Just let us go, the shuttle leaves in like three minutes."

"Okay, okay," JoAnna got off her knees and looked down with pride at the two kids in front of her. "I wish I could be with you while you're there, but... you know..." She glanced back at the senator standing several meters behind them beside the emperor. "Politics."

"Yes, we've heard the story plenty of times," Damian said.

"Yeah, you were supposed to help train Inquisitors, but because your brother got killed you had to be held 'hostage' by the emperor to keep them in line," Jayleen said, hoping her mother would be impressed with her remembering, "Some hostage. We got to live in the emperor's palace."

"Yeah, so the emperor can keep his eye on me," JoAnna winked, "Now get going, its going to leave without you."

"Bye!" Damian and Jayleen said in unison. Jayleen gave her mom a quick smile before turning her eyes from her. She was so excited to finally go to the academy. She wondered about all the things this was going to lead her to.

**_*Five years prior*_ **

Jayleen stood as straight as she could next to Damian. She had anticipation and excitement building up in her as the Grand Inquisitor paced in front of their ranks. He eyed every one of them carefully with his glowing yellow eyes. His eyes dropped considerably when he shifted his gaze from Damian to Jayleen. Damian was much taller than her. To be fair, he was fifteen, and she was still only ten. He had a growth spurt already while she still had three or four years before hers.

"As you all know," he said in his deep, menacing voice through his row of shark's teeth (that was an expression Jayleen's mom had used before. She had no clue what a shark was), "I have kept my eye open for a special student whom I could take to personally train by my side. A favorite, you could say," his eyes wondered by a tall male Inquisitor with reflective white eyes that closed sideways, "One who surpassed all others, but who isn't too old, either. Someone I still have time to sharpen to the perfection they have come closer to achieve than anyone else around them. After careful consideration, I know who this individual will be."

Jayleen noticed when all the Inquisitors-in-training around her slightly straightened when he said this. Each one hoped that it was them he was going to choose. Jayleen partially didn't want to be chosen. If she was, then she would be all alone, and while she wasn't scared of being alone, as long as she could remember Damian had always been there with her, helping her and keeping her safe (or vice versa if necessary). She threw her short blond hair out of her eye as the Grand Inquisitor paced by her. Suddenly he stopped.

"Jayleen," he said with an eerie smile, "meet me in hanger five tomorrow at sunrise."

Jayleen gasped. It WAS her? the one person who didn't want to be chosen. She wanted to kindly turn down his offer, but couldn't find the courage to do it. It was a great honor, she told herself. Her convincing didn't work. "Yes, Grand Inquisitor."

He turned to the rest of the students. "The rest of you will receive your transfer papers tomorrow. They will tell you everything you need to know. Dismissed."

***

"So, the Grand Inquisitor's own personal... 'padawan'?" Damian leaned against her room's entrance as she packed her essentials.

"Please, don't mock me with Jedi terms," Jayleen scoffed.

"Sorry, but I couldn't think of a better term," Damian frowned when she didn't respond. He sighed, "Jay, I can read you like a book. Why don't you want to go?"

"I don't know," Jayleen sighed as she threw her shirts into her bag.

"Yes, you do."

Jayleen groaned. "It's just... Damian, we've been together since I can remember. You've always been there, no matter what was going on. Sometimes, when I felt like giving up, you kicked me off my ass and made me work harder. And look where it got me!" she gestured to the messy room she stood in, which was filled with clothes and other things she had yet to pack.

"The highest honor anyone in the academy could have hoped to gain," Damian stood up strait rather than leaning on the entrance.

"But... but I haven't ever been by myself before," Jayleen rubbed her forearm, "not really. I'm only ten, Dam. I don't think I'm ready to be by myself."

"What? Bantha shit," Damian replied, "You're more ready than anyone I know. Not even those who have reached their 'prime.' You're going to do just fine, Jay. I know it."

"But... what about you? What will you do by yourself?"

"Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to worry about you," Damian said, taking a step inside the room, "Don't stop that trend now. I will be fine, you take care of yourself, and never worry about another person."

Jayleen groaned and rubbed her forearm again. Damian sighed as he realized she wasn't going to be so easily convinced. He took a step toward her and bent down, grabbing her arms. "Jay, listen to me. You are the strongest, bravest girl that I know. You will be just fine. You have gone above and beyond everyone in the academy, that is proven by the Grand Inquisitor choosing you. Me, as well. That proves that you don't need me to take care of you anymore. You're a big girl now, and you're moving up in the world. You can't hold onto things forever."

Jayleen sighed. "I guess," she suddenly raised her eyes to match Damian's, "But don't expect me to stay away forever. I'll come see you whenever I can."

"My door will always be open," Damian smiled as he rose back up, "and don't forget to call me on your comlink."

"I won't," Jayleen smiled. Damian patted her arm once.

"Good," he said, "Now finish packing. You've got a big day ahead of you."

**_*Present day*_ **

Jayleen huffed at the captain as he continued his tirade about the escape pod. "They are perfectly fit for use should and emergency come up, which it won't because we will be able to fight of any damn fool who tries to attack an imperial frigate.

Jayleen stared at the man's face with a frustrated look. His bushy mustache would usually amuse her, but at the moment she was rather pissed. When she was sent ahead while her master took care of some business back on Courescant, this wasn't what she had expected.

"Fine. You can then feel guilt whenever these pods don't launch when you give the command!"

"I tell you, they are in fine condition," he grumbled, his huge belly shaking as he did. Then his face turned into a crude smile. "Don't believe me, huh? Fine, I'll show you!" The captain thrust his hands forward to push him. Jayleen shook her head slightly. He shouldn't have smiled, it gave the whole thing away. She grabbed his arms just as his hands hit her chest.

She tisked at him, "Captain, Captain, don't you know it's not polite to touch a lady there?" He never answered, for as she spoke, he shot his knee into her waist. She was taken more by shock than pain, for she never thought a man THAT out of shape could pack that hard of a hit. He immediately rammed his whole body into her, sending him and her both into the already open pod.

The captain tried to get up and leave, but Jayleen shot her lightsaber's blade up and sliced the controls to the door before he could get out. "The Grand Inquisitor will hear of this."

"No, he won't," said the captain menacingly. Jayleen turned her head to the door and noticed a man outside the pods door. The captain nodded to him, and he started touching controls. In a fit of adrenaline and impulsive thinking, Jayleen slide her blade through the door and into the man's stomach. But it was too late. As soon as she stabbed him the pod shot through space, down toward the planet below.

***

Ezra stood staring at the fields of Lothal on his high tower while Seto got the last of his things from the tower to move to the _Ghost_. "Almost done, just got to get my.." Seto's voice cut off. Ezra turned back to see if he was okay. He only noticed him sigh. "Never mind," he finally said.

Ezra knew what he kept in that box he was standing over, and he knew the importance of that product to Seto. "Maybe you can get the girl..."

"Sabine," Seto reminded him, his voice still a little quiet and lacking it's natural happy sound.

"Yeah. maybe you can have her color it for you," Ezra said, "she did her own."

"Yeah," Seto sighed as he walked out next to Ezra, "I don't think she likes us very much."

"Oh, don't worry," Ezra smiled, "I have plans to change that."

Seto gave him a small smile in response.

Suddenly a sound came shattering through the clouds. Seto and Ezra looked up towards the sound and saw an object flying down towards the surface, burning as it went through the atmosphere. Ezra noticed when a much smaller piece of the object broke from it into what looked like two smaller parts that flew in a different direction then the main bulk of the object. It crashed just in front of the tower.

"Whoa, deja vu," Seto said. Ezra knew what he was talking about. He was talking about the time a TIE had crashed, and they had fun harassing the pilot who survived. Only this time, something was different.

"Seto, that's not a TIE, that's an escape pod," his eyes shot upward along with his pointing finger, "probably from that frigate."

Seto wasn't listening. He had already vaulted over the rail. He had a nasty habit of doing that, but he always landed on his feet. Kanan had told them that was because they were strong with the "force." He had found this out because Ezra had opened a holocron, and Seto had accidentally stopped a bullet in mid-air for one and a half seconds while they were rescuing Ezra from a star destroyer. Kanan was now training them. Well, "training."

Ezra followed Seto and stood next to him overlooking the crash sight.

"It looks like that other part was the hatch," said Seto, "It looks like it was cut off."

"Yeah, but there's nothing here to cut it off with," said Ezra.

"Maybe it fell out when the hatch was cut," Seto offered, "the lady is unconscious now anyways, so maybe she lost it."

"Wait, lady?" Ezra looked at him confused.

"Yeah, look," Seto gestured to a female body, about their age, lying on the grass next to the crash, "What should we do with her?"

"We should probably take her to the _Ghost_ ," said Ezra.

Seto looked at Ezra as if he had just killed someone. His mouth hung wide open and his eyes were wide with shock. "What?" Ezra asked.

"We've only been with them for a couple weeks and you want to bring a girl home?"

"Yeah," Ezra answered, "why would that be a problem?"

"What will Hera and Kanan think?"

"They'll think that we are helping a person in need," Ezra replied, trying to sound noble and superior, "Grab her legs."

"But what if they don't like her?"

"Then they can feel guilty when she dies on her own," Ezra replied.

"You aren't going with the joke," Seto sighed as he lifted the woman's legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, on a serious note, it has been brought to my attention that I did not have a lot of original character interaction in part one. That is going to change in part two, you can probably already tell, by a lot. And I did edit the tags. Sorry, but they were inaccurate before. Sorry!
> 
> Also, I know that I'm introducing a lot of fanfic characters and sticking them into the Ghost crew, but don't worry. It all has a purpose. Also, it's because when Rebels started is when we let our imaginations run wild first, which eventually led to the story we have now. So technically, Part One was all foundation, but it just grew so much that we made it its own part.
> 
> As for credit, yours truly wrote this one, but I must give credit to Darknessistheenemy for helping with JoAnna and helping make the character of Jayleen (not Damian though, he's all mine. Except the name. That was her).
> 
> Thanks for reading again, and sorry for the lack of og characters in part one. I'll try to improve my writing.  
> -Kyba Star


	18. Chapter 18

The four of them stood standing around the curved couch, staring at the girl lying on it. She hadn't woken up since Ezra and Seto had dropped her on the couch. Zeb, Ezra, Sabine, and Seto all stood waiting for her to stir, or wake up, or even twitch her arm. So far all she had done was drop her leg off the side of the couch.

"Alright, run the story by me one more time," Zeb said to Ezra again.

"I told you," Ezra said, exasperated after telling him the story half a dozen times, "an escape pod crashed next to the tower while Seto and I were moving our stuff out."

"And you found her inside it?"

"Wow, Zeb," Ezra rolled his eyes, "after six times telling the story, you finally remember how it goes."

Zeb flattened his ears against his head, half closed his eyes, and let our a snarl through clenched teeth. He started raising himself to his full height, when Seto broke his attention from Ezra. "Actually, that was the seventh time."

Zeb and Ezra both turned and stared at Seto when he said it. Seto shrugged at them, "What? I'm bored waiting for Kanan and Hera. I couldn't help but keep track."

Zeb started to shoot his angry glare at Seto, while Ezra shifted his face into a thinking expression, trying to remember and count the times he had told the tale to the Lasat in front of him.

"Alright, what did you do this time?" a familiar voice said. The crew turned to see Kanan slide down the ladder leading to the _Phantom._ Hera followed suit three seconds later.

"Oh, finally!" Ezra sighed, "Zeb was about to smash our heads together."

"Yeah, well, what else is new?" Hera said sarcastically.

"The girl we found," Seto said in a matter-of-fact tone, "And 'this time'? we've been here for like a week; what other 'times' have there been?"

Kanan ignored him and moved toward the girl to study her. Hera turned to Seto and whispered in his ear, "You haven't even been here a week, and you're already bringing girls home?"

"It was Ezra's idea," Seto said quickly.

"Where did you find her?" Kanan asked.

"An escape pod that crashed next to our tower," Ezra said.

"And where did it come from?"

Both Ezra and Seto went silent. Seto looked down at his feet and shifted his weight to his left leg awkwardly, while Ezra started to think about what to tell him. This prolonged silence caused everyone to stare at them. The pressure finally got to Ezra and he finally let out an answer after an awkward stutter of fake words. "It... fell from an Imperial frigate."

"What?" Kanan and Zeb said in unison. Hera's lighthearted expression changed to a look of a little confusion, mixed with a little of the emotional equivalent of face palming. And somewhere deep down, a bit of pride towards the boys? Sabine's face, however, became nothing but shock and some anger.

"Relax, she was unconscious during the whole trip," Seto reassured Kanan, "She has no idea how she got here. And if she wakes up and turned out to not be friendly, then Zeb can just knock her out and we'll put her back where we found her."

Ezra raised an eyebrow at Seto. "Where they had found her" was a hunk of burning metal that roasted the grass it landed on, and possibly could have caused a wildfire. Ezra doubted that would be a wise thing to do.

"What made you think that bringing an Imperial here was smart?" Kanan snapped at them.

Ezra crossed his arms and made a face. "How do you know she's an imperial? She could be a prisoner that tried to escape and it went bad. Besides, I thought you guys were all about helping people."

Kanan opened his mouth to scold them more, then sighed as his words stopped in his throat. Beside Seto, Hera cracked a little smile.

"I will admit, the punching bit does sound intriguing," Zeb said to Kanan.

Kanan groaned. "Alright, fine. We'll question her when she wakes up, but if she is trouble, then you take her right back to the crash sight, got it?"

"You're the boss," Seto said, happy Kanan had complied.

"I don't suspect we'll be waiting for too much longer," Sabine said, "We've been waiting for almost an hour, and it took them a while to carry her here."

"She is surprisingly heavy," Seto said.

"Either she wakes up soon, or she doesn't wake up for a couple of weeks," Sabine said.

It turned out the later wasn't going to come to pass. After Sabine finished speaking they all heard a groan escaped from the couch. Everyone turned toward the girl. She started to move a little, shifting as if not very comfortable, but only now noticing it. Her arm moved more than the rest of her; for she brought it up and rested it on her eyes while she let out another light groan. A shift of her head sent her blond hair dropping off the side of the couch. Half a second later she Suddenly shot up, her eyes shooting open, revealing fear in them as she staring at the the people around her.

"Hey, hey, don't panic," Ezra reassured her, "We won't hurt you. We want to help. What's your name?"

The girl swallowed after Ezra spoke. She opened her mouth to speak, and a small, quiet, and slightly hoarse voice came out. "My name?"

"Yes," Ezra repeated.

She shifted nervously a bit in her seat. All the strange people around her made her not want to speak. But they hadn't hurt her thus far, so she decided to tell them the truth. "I-I don't know my name."

Ezra backed up a bit, taken aback by that unexpected answer. He turned to Kanan for help, but he said nothing. He just shrugged and reflected the confused expression painted across Ezra's own face.

"What's my name?" the small voice spoke again.

Ezra looked back at Kanan again for help. Neither had any idea what to do. They were at a loss. Zeb scratched his brow awkwardly in the awkward silence that had cut its way through the room as the girl waited patiently for an answer. After some prolonged eye language and facial communication with Kanan, Ezra thought he was ready to say something.

"Zee," Seto broke the silence.

"What?" Ezra turned to him.

"That's your name: Zee," Seto continued to talk directly to Zee and ignored the others, "You had a really bad accident, but found you and made you all better."

"Wow," Zee's eyes were wide with enchantment as Seto told the tale, "I don't know what half the things you just said are."

"That's because you have amnesia," Seto said, flicking his eyes at the others for a brief second. "But don't worry. saw it all go down. The bad guys had their guns all shooting, like 'pew pew pew,' but you single-handedly fought them all off while wielding a gun in each hand that normal people would barely be able to shoot with both hands."

"Wow," Zee said, shifting into a more relaxed position, "how did I get amnesa?"

"Amnesia," Seto corrected, "And you hit your head on a rock after tripping over another rock. But after you killed all the bad guys."

"That's awsome!" Zee said, "But where did I come from? Who am I?"

"Well, obviously, you are part of our crew," Seto continued to spin his tale, "you are who we call Spector 9. That's just a code name. You're the young and innocent one of the group, who has yet to discover the hardships of real life. I'm Seto, or Spector 8. I'm the powerful hero with dashing good looks and a destiny that will determine the fate of the galaxy."

Seto noticed Sabine and Ezra roll their eyes when he said this. Sabine probably at "dashing" and Ezra at... Everything else. Actually, Sabine probably rolled her eyes at everything, too; he didn't know; they didn't talk much. Forgetting about them, Seto continued his tale, "this is Kanan, or Spector 1. He's my fatherly mentor figure who dies near the end of the tale and we are driven by our want to avenge him, which eventually leads to victory.

"The tall one is Zeb, Spector 4. He's the guy with the bad attitude no one likes but have to put up with because of some reason," Zeb glared at Seto after his statement with venom in his eyes. Kanan also shot Ezra an odd look after Seto mentioned that Kanan would die.

"Sabine, the girl of the group who is also a badass," Seto continued, "She's Spector 6. And this is Ezra, my brotherly character who's bonds cannot be broken no matter what evil may throw at us." Ezra smiled at that. At least that one was somewhat accurate. Sabine also seemed somewhat pleased with her description.

"And Hera, Spector 2. She's the mom figure, that gives good advice and comforts whenever someone feels sad or something like that. And then there's..."

A wonking noise interrupted Seto's speech. Chopper came rolling by Zee, angrily wonking and beeping at her. Zee immediately pulled her legs onto the couch away from the droids pinching arms. "Oh, yeah. Chopper. He's the pet."

Chopper turned toward Seto wonking with shock. Shock turned to anger as he wheeled his way toward Seto and over his foot. "He's Spector THREE!!!" Seto grabbed his smashed foot and started hopping on his good leg while groaning and angrily muttering under his breath at Chopper. Zee chuckled at him.

"Wow," Zee said, a little louder than before.  Seto seemed to make her less nervous, "So, we're like a massive family."

For the first time in the past ten minutes, Seto stopped to think. Everything else he had said had been on impulse to keep Zee distracted from the others gawking in confusion as they figured out what to do. Even her name had been on impulse, though now that he though about it, it wasn't a bad name. He stuttered for a second as he thought of a proper reply, "uh, yea-sure, that's pretty much it. A very dis-functional one, but yeah."

"Nice save," Ezra whispered to him.

"If we're a big family, then who's that?" Zee turned her gaze to the doorway beside the steps where Seto saw Cirk standing.

"Oh, yeah, that guy," Seto said, "he's Spector 5. He's the... the..." Seto turned to Cirk, "Actually, what do you do?"

"He's the guy with the unknown background and the uncertain future," Ezra said for Seto, "the least trusted of the group, and most likely to stab his friends in the back if they get in his way."

Seto turned to Ezra with a big smile, "I like that," he said.

Cirk shifted his eyes into a deadly glare at Seto and Ezra. "What the hell is going on in here?" he said to Kanan with confusion and anger.

"We found a girl!" Seto answered instead.

"Hi! I'm Zee," Zee said, "but you already knew that. I'm the one that didn't know that because I had anmesa because the earth was mean and hit me int the head and kicked my toe. That is, until Sento told me."

"Eh, close enough," Seto grinned.

"Wait, what?" Cirk turned to look at Kanan. Kanan shrugged and looked at Hera, who was grinning a little from Seto's story, "did I miss something important?"

"Yeah, just Zee waking up from her traumatic head injury," Seto said, "It's like you barely care."

"Wha... I don't even know her!" Cirk exclaimed, thrusting his arms at Zee.

"See why we don't like him?" Seto said to Zee, who nodded vigorously, though her expression said otherwise.

"Wha-yo... Hera, are seriously rolling with this?" Cirk asked.

"Well, it's like Seto said," Hera turned to Zee, "She's part of our 'giant family.' Come on, Zee, I'll show you... re-show you around the _Ghost_."

"There are ghosts here?" Zee said, standing up and walking to Hera.

"No, hon, it's the name of the ship," Hera corrected her. She walked beside Zee as they both left the room, pushing past Cirk while Zee asked more about the ship.

Cirk marched over to Kanan after they left. "Kanan, it's hard enough to bring some really immature teenagers on board, but to lie about somebody's backstory because they had amnesia and bring them into our fold? Is that supposed to be smart?"

"Cirk, it seems we were both outvoted," Kanan said, still slightly bewildered at Seto's quick mind and story, "Hera already wants to keep her, and we can't say no once that happens."

"But we can't just keep getting new people like this, we don't have the space," Cirk pressed.

"If I recall," Sabine cut in, "Cirk, you felt the same way whenever I first joined the crew. You felt like I was imposing on your already 'perfect...'" she glanced toward Seto, "'family.' But pretty soon you accepted me as part of the crew. I'm sure you'll feel the same about Zee soon," she looked toward both Seto and Ezra again, "and maybe even these two."

Seto smiled, happy that Sabine seemed to talk sense into Cirk. Ezra also had a huge grin on his face, but only because Sabine had been talking about him.

Cirk, however, groaned. "Ugh. Okay, fine. I'll try not to complain about the new people. But just keep her away from me. And those two as well. Or, at least Seto."

"Eh, I can live with that," Seto said as Cirk sauntered away.

Ezra chuckled. "Come on, Seto. We got some unpacking to do."

Seto and Ezra took off as well, laughing and joking as they went down the hall. Kanan realized that Seto was not going toward where he would sleep. He was going to sleep in the cockpit. He found the chairs actually somewhat comfortable, and he gave the spare bed to Ezra for him use. Kanan figured he was going to help Ezra unpack his stuff. He smirked. They really were like brothers.

"The family just keeps growing, doesn't it, Kanan?" Sabine said as she strolled out as well.

"Yeah," Kanan said to himself, "it sure does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this again. Sorry if you like the others more. But my brother did help with Cirk's character. Maybe they'll help more next week
> 
> Anyways, everyone please welcome Zee to the story! As I said in the last chapter's end notes, the whole story started with the Rebels series. Me and darknessistheenemy watched it and thought what if it were cool if we were there. So we made up these goofy characters based off our own stupidity on steroids. And thus, Seto and Zee were born. But before we knew it, we had made up a whole story based around the stupid characters we made up for fun, and out stupid characters became not so stupid and actually more like characters, and then we decided, "Hey, this story is too good to keep to ourselves. We should write a fan-fiction about it!" And thus, "Legend of the Terrans" was born.
> 
> If you actually read that whole thing, thanks. Probably nobody cares. Anyways, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for new chapters every week!  
> -Kyba Star
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Also, when Seto talked about Kanan, too soon?


	19. Chapter 19

Sabine stood in her room alone, staring at the wall. Around her room there were multiple different paintings she had put along the wall. This one spot was still bare, though. She was thinking about what to draw, searching for some sort of inspiration.

There was, of course, Ezra and Seto. The paintings around her often consisted of her friends. Whenever something memorable happened, she would usually end up putting it with her collection of masterpieces on her "wall of fame." There was one of Hera surprising Kanan on his birthday with a new blaster, which he still used. There was one of Chopper, in multiple pieces, in remembrance of the time Hera was tightening his bolts with an electric tool, but accidentally loosened them instead. Come to think of it, they never saw that tool again.

There had been one time, she remembered, when Ezra had given her an inspiration. Though she hadn't painted it onto her wall, but rather left it at a memoir in Zeb and his room. She remembered when Chopper had taken the bolts out of the bed and caused Ezra to fall on Zeb. The moment had to be immortalized.

But Seto was a different story. She never really talked to him that much, or at least not as much as she talked to Ezra. Come to think of it, Seto never really talked to anyone besides Ezra and Kanan, whenever he sent Ezra and him off to do some Jedi stuff. He also seemed okay with talking to Hera, but not nearly as much as when he talked to Ezra. They had been together for a long time. Sabine Shrugged. Maybe that did things to people that she just didn't understand.

But to be fair, she didn't know if she wanted Seto to talk to her. Whenever Ezra did, he often found it fit to be flirtatious, which he wasn't very good at being. She thought for a second that maybe Seto would be the same way, should he talk to her.

A knock rang from her door. "Come in," she said.

The door slid open and Ezra walked in with an odd smile on his face, while his hand waved a greeting. "Hey, Sabine," he said, "how's it going."

"It was going fine before you came in," Sabine said coldly.

"Oh, I see," Ezra stammered, "Well, I'll try not to take up too much of your time. You seem pretty busy with the whole 'wall painting' thing..."

"What do you want, Ezra?" Sabine pressed, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, of course," Ezra grinned as he reached outside her door and bent toward the floor. He came back up with a stormtrooper helmet in his hands. "I found a new helmet, and I figured maybe you'd like to paint it for me."

"Hmm," Sabine said. She did like to paint helmets. She found they presented a unique opportunity to make a person seem whatever way she chose. In fact, she had a special idea in store for Ezra in the future. But that was for the future. Right now she wanted to paint her wall. "Thanks, but like you said, I'm busy with the whole 'wall painting' thing."

"Oh, well, if you ever want it, I'm right across the hall," he grinned, while a hint of disappointment flickered across his face.

"I know where you're room is," Sabine sighed.

Ezra instantly realized his mistake, "Of course you do. I didn't mean to make you seem stupid or anything..."

"Ezra, get out," Sabine sighed, "I'm busy."

"Right," Ezra said as he walked out, "sorry."

Sabine sighed as her door slid closed. Now, because of Ezra, she had lost her train of thought, and she was pretty sure said train was about to come up with something. Now she had less inspiration than before, and that was really saying something.

Another knock rang at her door.

"Ezra I said go away, I want to be alone," Sabine called out, letting a little of her annoyance show.

"Oh, well, I suppose I can come later," he said from the other side.

Wait, that wasn't Ezra. It was Seto. Sabine sighed as she heard his footsteps walking away. He didn't deserve that. She supposed she would let him speak and whatever and then she would yell at him for whatever it was he bothered her for. She walked towards the door and slid it open. Seto had only taken a few steps away.

"Wait, Seto," Sabine sighed. Seto stopped and turned around, causing the tip of his black hair to fling in front of his eyes emerald. Sabine noticed when it did that his hair wasn't as thickly black as it was when they first met him. It was a tad lighter. He dyed his hair? "What do you want?"

Seto flicked his bangs out of his eyes and looked back at her. "Well, I know you're the artist of the crew, and..."

"Let me guess, you want me to paint the armor, because Ezra gets the helmet, and you keep the armor," Sabine sighed, starting to slightly inch her way back into her room.

"Well, you aren't entirely wrong," Seto said, "I did used to keep the suits of armor."

Sabine stopped. "Used to?"

"Well, I don't anymore," Seto said, "they don't look good on me. And they feel terrible."

"I know," Sabine admitted, "So I got what you want wrong. What do you want me to paint?"

Seto looked down shyly for a second. Yep, he definitely didn't like talking to people he didn't know, Sabine told herself, starting to remember her previous train of thought.

"It's... my hair," Seto admitted.

Though Sabine noticed the fading black earlier, she still found herself surprised by what he said. she painted her own all the time, but never anyone else's. She found herself slightly torn. She kind of wanted to paint his hair for him, just to have fun with it, but at the same time, had no idea where his head had been, or when the last time he used a refresher was.

But then she found herself asking a question, "Why?"

More awkward movements came from Seto before he answered, "Well, it's because of my dad."

Sabine cocked her head to the side. "Your dad?"

"Yeah, he always dyed my hair black," Seto answered. "It's not actually black; it's blond, like his."

Now Sabine was curious. She straightened herself a bit, while still leaning against the wall. "Why did he do that?"

"He said I looked too much like him," Seto admitted, "apparently that's a bad thing."

Sabine knew she shouldn't keep asking these questions; she knew Seto had lost his parents a long time ago, same as Ezra, but she couldn't help it. Plus, if she was going to paint his hair, then she wanted to know the whole reason why. "Why would that be a bad thing?"

"He never said," Seto shook his head, "But he did dye his hair and my brother's hair brown. My mom dyed her hair black. They said the smallest differences would fool any face scanners. Even hair color, apparently." Sabine noticed his lip twitch into a smile when he mentioned his mother, then a pang of sadness fly through his eyes afterwards, destroying all but the memory of the smile.

"What happened to them?" Sabine asked.

"Same as Ezra's," Seto said as his finger wiped something from his eye, "they were taken prisoner by the Empire." Seto's head perked up a little. "Well, except my brother. I actually never found out what happened to him."

"What was his name?"

"Bobyo," Seto said, "A strange name, I know. He was two years older than me, but we got along great." he sighed. "I wish I knew what happened to him."

Sabine sighed. This was the most he had opened to anyone since coming aboard the ship, as far as she knew. Why her? Just for some hair color? Did it really matter that much to him.

No, it wasn't the hair. It was the memory. His father, dying his hair every day until that's what he was used to. Now, without his dad or anything to remember him by, he didn't want to lose the one thing his father left with him, and that was something she understood.

But even still, all she had seen of him before now was him joking with Ezra or annoying Cirk. She had never really seen this side of him. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he wasn't just some shy guy who hated people for no reason. Maybe there was a good and kind person beneath him, that was only for those who cared enough to find it. Seeing as how he had chosen to tell her these things, she wanted to find that person.

"So, what? Do you want it black with red highlights or something?"

"No, just plain black all the way," he replied, "As dark as you can."

Sabine bounced her shoulder off the wall and turned into her room. "Okay," she said as she started walking in, "Come on in"

***

Cirk was laying in his room, reading off his data pad, when hear rapid footsteps running down the hall. There was a suspicious thump against a locked door and a round of maniacal giggles, then the footsteps ran back down the hall and repeated the process again. Cirk let this go on for about five minutes before jumping up from his bed and opened his door with a growl.

"WHO THE F-" Cirk yelled as a blur of yellow hair and limbs flew down the hall to slam against the cockpit door and collapse to the ground in a fit of laughter. He stomped over to Zee and glared down at her.

"What are you doing?" he said strangely calm.

"Hera said I couldn't go to the cockpit and drive the ship so I'm going to break the door down." Zee said as if Cirk should already know exactly what she is doing.

"Ah." Cirk said, rolling his eyes, "Can't you find anything else to do?"

"Will you tell me a story?" Zee asked, looking up at him with her green eyes.

Cirk sighed, "Will you stop running into the door if I do?"

Zee sat up on the floor and nodded vigorously.

"Okay, fine, but no interruptions." Cirk join her on the floor and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes to recall a good war story to tell.

"Five hundred years ago, on a continent on an unknown planet far away just starting to be explored and colonized, the people of thirteen colonies rose up against an empire who was unfair and unjust with taxation and marshal law. For eight years, the Colonials fight their aggressors in hopes of freedom and justice. At firsthand, it seemed hopeless for this rebels, as the empire outnumbered them ten to one. But, through hope and faith of a brighter future, the Colonials won their freedom and showed the planet that a little ounce of hope is greater than the strength of twenty armadas. In the following hundred years, their way of life would be challenged by other nations and soon creatures among the stars, but they never lost that spark of hope and would never lose. Because of that, the rest of the planet would follow suit, but that will be another story for some other time."

Zee blinked, "That's no fun. That story was too short. Tell me the rest of it."

"Nope. You said to tell you a story so I did. That's all you get today." Cirk said, getting up and brushing off his pants.

"Come on. Let's get some food." He said as he walked away.

Zee sigh, _I'll get the rest out of you. Just you wait._

"What are you guys talking about?" Ezra said, strolling down the hallway toward them.

"I was listening to Cirk tell me a story," Zee replied as Ezra matched pace with her.

"Oh, a story," Ezra turned his head toward Cirk, "What's it about?"

"Oh, something about Rebels, and empires, and hope and freedom... ya know, all that crap," Cirk replied, turning his gaze half a foot down to look at Ezra. Standing next to Zee and Ezra, Cirk really did seem like a giant.

"So kind of like us," Ezra said.

"Eh, well, in a way, yes," Cirk confirmed.

Two sets of footsteps rang out through the hall from the other end. Ezra turned from his gaze from Cirk and Zee to see Sabine and Seto walking together toward them. Though something was different. It was Seto's hair. It was pitch black!

"So, how's it look?" Seto smiled, posing for Ezra to look at him. Ezra smiled back at him, but out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Cirk roll his eyes.

"It looks fantastic," Ezra replied, "just like you're dad used to do it, if not better."

"Oh, please. Was his dad an artist?" Sabine crossed her arms. 'What are you guys up to?"

"Snack!" Zee chimed.

"Right now? We had lunch an hour ago," Sabine said.

"It was his idea," Zee pointed a finger up toward Cirk.

"Oh, well that makes more sense," Seto grinned as he fell in line with Ezra walking toward the ship's kitchen.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cirk scowled.

"Oh, come on, you aren't THAT dumb," Seto said, speeding his walk up as they entered the kitchen. He jumped up and landed on the counter, scooting back from the edge as he did. He almost hit his head on a cabinet above him, but he had learned from the past how far back to scoot.

Once the others also filled in, Zee immediately ran to a cabinet and grabbed a box of wafers out of it. Greedily pulling the box open and shoving her hands full of the snacks, she soon found her mouth full of the tasty snacks. Sabine, on the other hand, just got a quick glass of blue milk.

"Well, at least I'm proud of the color of my hair," Cirk shot back at Seto. He noticed Sabine out of the corner of his eye shaking her head and mouthing "no" to him. Why?

"Please, that's probably fake," Seto said, pointing to the thin mop of hair on Cirk's head.

"It's more real than yours is," Cirk said harshly. Seto put a hand through his hair before shooting a dark scour at Cirk.

"Cirk, stop," Sabine took a step toward Cirk, "you're being immature."

Cirk glanced toward Sabine. She had a stern face on her that he had learned meant there was a deeper meaning to her telling him to stop what he was doing. Something that he wasn't allowed to know. Behind her, Ezra had a slightly concerned and worried look on his face, like Cirk was about to set off the worst disaster he possibly could.

But he didn't need Sabine to tell him what it was. Ezra had already given him the answer he needed.

"Why did you have her fix it?" Cirk mocked slightly, "Cause daddy not here to do it for you?"

"What did you say?" Seto fell off the counter, "My dad was taken prisoner by imperials. He could be dead!"

"Oh, he could be dead! Well, that changes things," Cirk said sarcastically, then turned to Seto with a serious look burning towards the younger man, "That's real life, kid. Not the jokes or the games you always play."

"Cirk!" Sabine snapped.

"You think I don't know what REAL LIFE is!?" Seto snapped, taking a dangerous step toward Cirk, "I've been an orphan since I was nine, and I'm only alive because someone two years younger than me can survive better than I can!"

"That's not real life," Cirk raised his body as straight and tall as he could, with Seto only a few inches below him, "real life is your own brother leaving you when his two brothers need him most. Real life is losing your brother AND species to a madman who calls himself a hero! Real life is jumping from planet to planet, avoiding capture from the most ruthless empire this side of the universe, and watching them mow down innocent people, sometimes civilizations, just to get you." Cirk turned his back to Seto and started walking toward the kitchen exit, "you aren't ready for real life. Go home to your mother."

As if setting off a ticking bomb, Ezra's jaw dropped in shock. He immediately shot his eyes to Seto. Seto had taken a step back as if hit by something after he said that final sentence. Then, his teeth came together in an aggressive lock. But his eyes didn't meet the aggression the rest of his face. They were... sad. And wet.

"My mother is dead!" Seto shouted through gripped teeth, his voice near breaking as he did, "she was gunned down right in front of me, and my brother by stormtroopers. The same that took my dad."

Cirk slowly turned his head back toward Seto, "If she was killed by soldiers as incompetent as STORMTROOPERS, then it wasn't them. Your mom was just an ace at dying."

Seto's mouth dropped open. Something he had said had finally finished him. Cirk almost smiled at his success, but couldn't before Seto pushed his way passed Sabine and Ezra and walked toward the cockpit.

"Seto," Ezra walked off after him.

All was silent in the kitchen for a good minute afterwards. Zee had even stopped chewing on her wafers when they started shouting. Sabine stared down the hall where Seto and Ezra had gone before turning an ice-cold glare back toward Cirk. "Who do you think you are?"

Cirk sighed. "Life's rough, Sabine. He needs to realize that."

"No, no," Sabine cut him off, "I asked you a question: 'who do you think you are'?"

When Cirk didn't answer she continued, "You aren't his father, you aren't his teacher, you definitely aren't his friend. What gives you the right to take something so bad and terrible and turn it into something that just happens?"

"I've had worse," Cirk snapped back.

"And I don't care!" Sabine shouted, "Seto isn't you. He hasn't had the same experiences, or even the same lifestyle as you! And besides, he's barely older than me!"

"Sabine, you've even had worse than him," Cirk pressed, "You're own family disowned you."

"Yeah, you're right," Sabine admitted, "but at least I know my mother and father are alive. To have my mother shot down in cold blood in front of me, and not know whether or not my father is alive... I don't know if I can handle that."

Cirk again didn't say anything. Sabine took this as her moment to speak again. "Maybe you find him annoying, but Seto has lost everything. The fact that he can still smile and joke around doesn't mean he's ignorant or a fool. It means he's strong."

Cirk stared in silence as Sabine followed down the same way Seto and Ezra had gone. Once she was out of sight, he looked down at Zee, who had sat on the floor through the whole conversation. "Let me guess, you're going to leave too?"

Zee stared down at her wafer box, then set it down beside her. "I don't like your stories. Not either of them." She got up and started to walk away. Suddenly she had second thoughts about the remaining half a box on the floor, and grabbed it, pulling another hand full into her mouth. Then she walked away, though not the same way everyone else had.

And Cirk stood there, alone with his thoughts. Or, so he thought.

"Cirk," Hera stepped into the room the way Zee had left. Her arms were crossed unhappily across her chest. "What did you do?"

"I SAID what he needed to hear," Cirk said to her.

"Really? What he needed, or what you wanted him to hear?" Hera said before turning back and leaving as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, I finally have my own account and ready to help continue this story. Of course, I wasn't the only one who wrote this chapter. The first and last parts were written by Kyba Star while the middle part was Darknessistheenemy and me. I know everyone probably know the War for Independence all to well, but it was the only thing that came to mind when writing this. Plus, I kind of a historical geek when it comes to the US.
> 
> Well, that is all for now. See you all in the next chapter.
> 
> -GM Creed


	20. Chapter 20

The air flew through Seto's pitch black hair, sending it flapping in front of his eyes. Just barely, though, because it barely reached there. He put his hand through his hair, glancing his eyes over the _Ghost_ 's roof. He saw Zeb standing seriously bored while watching Ezra balancing on the top of the turret on the roof. He gave Cirk a side glance as he did. He immediately looked away. He still didn't care about what he had said, nor had he made a move to ask for recompense.

"Focus," Kanan said to Ezra balanced on his arms on the turret _._

"It's hard to focus up here," Ezra commented.

"Ha! Says you," Seto crossed his arms as he shifted his weight into his left foot, "watching you do it makes it seem so boring, and I don't wanna focus on you when I'm bored."

Kanan turned to Seto. "Watching him won't help you do it better. It's the force that will help him keep his balance."

"What? How does it do that?" Seto asked.

"I... I'm not..." Kanan sighed, "I'm not sure, but Master Yoda had us do it while lifting broken pieces of metal."

Seto glanced toward Ezra, then around the _Ghost_ 's roof. All he saw was the white clouds around him, flying past as the _G_ _host_ flew the opposite way they traveled, causing them to look faster than they actually were going. The blue sky shone fervently above them as the bright yellow sun illuminated the deep purple of space into the blue of the sky. He never saw what he was searching for, though.

"Where's the floating metal?" Seto asked.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Seto's right," Zeb said, "This is very boring." He walked to the turret and looked up at Ezra. "Come on, kid. Amuse me. Use the force," he said mockingly as he shook the guns, shaking Ezra from his balance on top. He wiggled in the air a bit and made sounds of surprise before falling off and into a crate full of empty bantha milk cartons.

Seto immediately ran to his side, grabbing his arm and lifting him from the crate. Ezra shot him a look of gratitude, before it vanished as fast at it appeared when Ezra noticed a smile that was trying to be erased across Seto's face. Ezra frowned and pulled his arm from Seto.

"I'm sorry," Seto laughed, releasing the chuckles he'd been hiding. Ezra's frown didn't waver. "Oh, come on," Seto laughed again, "if it were anyone else you would have laughed."

"And you'd be mad if it happened to you and I laughed," Ezra countermanded.

Zeb chuckled as he lumbered his way next to the duo. "I'm starting to like this kid more and more," he said, standing slightly closer to Seto than to Ezra.

"You're just gonna let him get away with that?" Ezra asked.

"Oh, no I'll avenge you," Seto said, the laughs finally subsiding, "just once I'm done laughing."

Zeb twisted his face into a look of disgust, "I take that back. Ezra's still my favorite."

Ezra turned to Seto with a smug look on his face. Seto shrugged, "Meh, I can live with that."

"Seto, get over here," Kanan called. Seto obeyed and marched to his master at the edge of the roof.

"Yes, Kanan?"

"Here," Kanan gave him his lightsaber, "you'll need this."

"Hey, I have a question," Ezra chimed in, "when do we get our own?"

Kanan turned to Ezra as he walked to the box of milk cartons, "Having a laser sword doesn't make you a jedi."

Ezra muttered something Seto didn't understand before he ignited the blade of the lightsaber. It shined blue as it extended a couple feet in the air. It wasn't very vibrant, though. The blue sky saw to that. "There's a control on the side that will adjust the length to your height," Kanan called from across the roof.

Seto found the control and lowered the blade. But when he looked up at the blade, he realized he made a mistake. He raised the blade higher than the original length. Though he was about ten or fifteen years younger than Kanan, he was a few inches higher. He was surprisingly tall. Almost as tall as Cirk.

"Ready?" Kanan asked. Seto couldn't help but notice Kanan's frown as he nodded his answer. "Alright, close your eyes." Seto obeyed. "Let him have it, Chopper."

Seto couldn't see anything, but he did hear Chopper's top start to rotate, though it was hard to hear when the wind's noise became louder when his other senses enhanced. It seemed to be against him as he felt a milk carton straight in his closed eye. "Ow!" he groaned. He didn't have any more time to react when another hit his scalp.

"Be precise," he heard Kanan say, "keep the blade up."

Seto groaned as another hit his forehead. He instinctively jumped as he assumed another passed by, just as another one hit his foreleg.

He grunted at himself. He took a deep breath and stood still, even as another hit his arm. Without his eyes, his other senses were enhanced. He could here the wind's whistle, feel each hair on edge. He smelled something nasty under his nose, not quite sure what. But another sense was enhanced. It was like, a second eye. His body suddenly moved. He felt the air near his chest suddenly blow the other way as a small object passed. An instinctive dodge. But he could have only done that if he knew where it was going to hit him.

He turned his head forward, just in time to flick the blade in front of him. He heard a resounding slash as the carton hit the laser. He could see it now. They weren't really there. It was... weird. For a moment, all he saw was the carton. He didn't even see himself, but knew exactly where and how he stood. He could feel the blade as well, and it was as if it were part of him, like another arm. He swished the blade up into another carton.

Also, in front of him, he felt a presence. He couldn't "see" it. Not like he could "see" the cartons. It was the feeling one got when he knew someone was standing behind him. He felt it in front of him a couple meters. He knew it to be Kanan. he felt another one, a larger one, to Kanan's left, Seto's right. He knew it was Zeb, and judging by the smaller presence beside the large one, he guessed Ezra stood beside him.

Another carton was sliced in half. He wanted to test something. He switched his focus from the cartons to Kanan. The cartons vanished from his mind's eyes and where he felt Kanan's presence his mind's eyes a man appeared. He could "see" Kanan better than he was able to "see" the crates. His mouth snapped into a smile. He had figured it out. He was about to jump for joy when he felt a crate hit his nose. His minds eye turned from Kanan and turned to the cartons just as another struck him. Then another. His eyes snapped open.

Just as the ground beneath him vanished.

"Seto!" Ezra ran to Seto as he grabbed the edge of the roof. Ezra grabbed his arm and started pulling him up. Seto started to climb his legs up the sides.

Suddenly Seto noticed Zee and Sabine in the cockpit beneath him. He didn't notice what Sabine was doing, but Zee glanced up, and a huge smile grew on her face. She waved up at Seto. Seto waved back, a smile growing on his own face. He didn't know why, but he always felt happy when he saw...

"Seto, I can't..." Ezra strained.

Oh, right. Seto was about to resume his way up when he felt himself go down instead of up. Above him Ezra flipped and fell down onto the cockpit, slowly sliding down the front. Seto fell and landed slightly on top of the glass. He tried to stand, but the glass wasn't flat enough, he couldn't stand up. Seto looked down at Ezra. He was waving at someone in the cockpit. Probably Sabine. But it didn't matter, because Seto slipped and fell, hitting Ezra and making him fall off the glass and fly toward the ground.

"Well," Seto said as they fell through a cloud, "this isn't how I thought we would go out."

Ezra didn't answer. He looked down and saw Ezra completely stopped. Seto yelped and grabbed Ezra's leg as he started to float up.

The _Ghost_ came into view just seconds later. On the roof, Kanan still stood on top, straining himself as he kept the two of them floating.

the ramp opened up, and they saw Zeb and Cirk walking down towards them. Seto and Ezra floated towards the duo, though not as fast as before. Kanan couldn't hold them much longer. but apparently he could hold them long enough. Ezra fell into Zeb's arms, and Seto fell into Cirk's.

Seto jumped from Cirk's arms as soon as he could and marched over to Ezra. "you good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ezra replied.

At the top of the ramp Chopper chortled down on them. In his arm was another milk carton. He started to spin before sending it flying towards them. Ezra dodged easily, then shot Chopper an annoyed glare.

Sabine walked up beside Chopper. "Come here, guys," she said, "I've got something to show you. I think you'll like it."

***

 _I can't believe this,_ Cirk's thoughts said. _I knew there had to have been other surviving Jedi, but Master Unduli? Who'd of guessed?_

"Why can't we just land on this landing pad right there?" Ezra asked.

 _Ah ah, bad idea,_ Cirk thought. _We are talking about breaking in and out of the Alcatraz of the Galactic Empire, not capturing Air Force One and holding the US President hostage._

"There, that's were we'll enter," Kanan said pointing to a door at the base of the prison. "We will also exit from there, nice and quiet before the Empire knows we were even there."

"Oh yeah, you'd have to be crazy not to think the Empire wouldn't expect that," Sabine said.

"Let's hope the Empire doesn't," Kanan replied. "Set a course for Stygeon Prime."

***

"Well, that's should be it," John said as he put on the black leather jacket he'd been wearing for the past fifteen years. He examined the black Mandalorian armor pieces that he crafted with his two hands on his coat's shoulders, his arms, and grey pants. His sidearms were his knife and two M2237s, pistols that he crafted based on the M1911 pistol from WWII.

 _Maybe I should take the NR-95,_ John thought. He ran his hand down the rifle and pondered over the idea.

"This is a covert op," John finally decided. "We need silence this time around. Maybe next time."

John Smith existed his cabin as he put his leather gloves on and the facade of Cirk Concord again.

***

"Come on, Zee," Seto beckoned her, "it's time to go."

Zee's boots clinked against the metal floor of the _Ghost_ as she marched her way to the _Phantom._ She didn't know why, but she couldn't shake an odd feeling. Stygeon Prime. It felt strangely familiar. Maybe she had heard of it before her amnesia. Hera had told her Seto's tale hadn't been one hundred percent true. Still, he did seem to be a nice guy. Honestly, she couldn't blame him. A spur of the moment thing. He was that kind of guy anyways. She still trusted him.

Or maybe she didn't want to not trust him. He did make her feel at home. Well, at this point all of them did. Even Zeb. She found him big and tall. Like a big pillow, even though everyone else saw him as a big tough guy. But back to the point, Seto was the first that made her feel at home. She didn't know why, but she wanted him to be the guy she could always trust. Well, again, she wanted to trust everyone, but Seto more than others. And Ezra second. Then Sabine. Then Kanan. Then...

"Zee, let's go," Seto beckoned.

"Coming, Seto," Zee said as she climbed up the ladder. She immediately walked to the _Phantom_ and plopped down beside Seto.

She tried to stop shaking, but the weird feeling was still there. She didn't like the weird feeling. She wanted it to go away.

"Hey, are you okay?" Seto asked.

"Uh, yeah, probably," Zee said pathetically.

"Uh, huh," Seto said, "It's the prison, isn't it."

Zee sighed. "I don't like this feeling Seto. I think... I think something bad is at the prison."

Seto blinked. "Well... whatever it is, we can deal with it."

"I hope so," Zee said, shrinking a bit, "I don't like the bad feeling." She looked up at Seto, "Can you make the bad feeling go away."

Seto smiled. "I'll do my best to, Zee. I promise."

Zee smiled. Though she still felt the bad feeling within her, she felt a bit better knowing what Seto said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm back. And I know this chapter wasn't really progressive, but I decided to just write a fun one cause why not? And I can do what I want.
> 
> Anyways, GM_Creed helped out with the middle parts of the chapter. I did the rest. I know darknessistheenenmy hasn't been writing anything recently. Don't worry, she will have her time. There's gonna be a HUGE section later on that she will write a lot of. Possibly more than I will.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you next week.  
> -Kyba Star


	21. Chapter 21

The _Phantom_ rocked and rattled as it flew through the clouds floating in the pitch black sky. Hera sat by the wheel as calm as ever. Though he hadn't been with the crew very long, Ezra knew that if Hera thought the conditions were fine, then the conditions were fine.

"Ezra, are you okay?" Seto broke his thoughts. Ezra jolted back to reality. He glanced over to Seto. His face was inquisitive and slightly worried. Around him he noticed it was quiet, except for Zeb saying something to Chopper, who wasn't going with them. Ezra decided to keep his voice down.

"What are you talking about?" he muttered.

"Well, you've been frowning more then usual, and your frown gets a tiny bit bigger when you look at Kanan. Plus, you don't usually answer me so abruptly," Seto smiled, clearly proud of himself for his deduction.

Ezra scoffed, "Been reading your dad's books again?"

"This one had a hound in it," Seto said, distracted from his own question, "and it was at some place called Baskerville or something like that."

"Wow," Ezra pretended to be interested, "haven't heard of that one before."

"Yeah, I found it..." Seto finally caught on, "hey, stay on topic. What's going on?"

Ezra scoffed again, but it was a much rougher scoff this time. "What do you think?"

"I don't know," Seto shrugged as he leaned forward a bit, "Nervous about the mission?"

"What? No, it's Kanan," Ezra said.

Seto glanced over to where Kanan sat calmly with his eyes closed. "What about him."

Ezra frowned at Seto now, "Wait, did he not tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"That he's dumping us with Master Unduli," Ezra said.

"What?" Seto was taken aback, "No, he wouldn't..."

"He told me himself Seto," Ezra cut him off. He glanced over toward Kanan. Seto was right. Even now Ezra felt his frown deepening, "He's giving up on us."

Seto sat silently for a second, thinking. "Maybe it's because he's training two of us. He did say the Jedi only allowed one apprentice at a time. It must put him under a lot of stress."

Before Ezra could reply Hera drew everyone in the ship's attention to her. "Thirty seconds. Good luck."

Everyone in the ship stood up and stretched their limbs, getting ready for the mission before them. "Luck," Zeb scoffed, "We're gonna need a miracle."

"Here are three," Sabine said, handing Ezra and Zeb thermal detonators.

"You know how to use that?" Seto asked.

"Yeah, nothing to it," Ezra replied with a slightly wavering smile of confidence.

"Try to stay focused," Kanan said over his shoulder to Ezra.

"I thought there was no try," Ezra said back with a smile. Kanan just frowned and looked away. Behind him, Seto sighed.

***

Seto sighed again. Maybe it was true Luminara could teach them better, but couldn't Kanan see that wasn't what they wanted? Rescuing the Jedi master, sure, he was all for that, but giving up on teaching them? Weren't the Jedi supposed to never give up, or was that something that legend and a child's imagination had made Seto believe.

The three of them walked into the cell with Kanan leading the way. Master Unduli was sitting silently, with her hands on he face. A pair of handcuffs wrapped around her greenish wrists. Not very good restraints. He would have thought they would have maybe chained her to the wall or something. There was even a box on the wall. He was surprised they didn't put her in there instead.

She glanced up as they approached. Seto could tell time had "delved it's wrinkles in beauty's brow" (something else from his father's books), however her eyes were still blue and vibrant. Very vibrant.

"Is it really her?" Ezra asked.

"Yes, but something's wrong," Kanan answered.

Luminara stood without a word, and without a creak of the ground either. She walked to Kanan without a thud of her shoes on the metal ground. Something was definitely wrong. "Master?" Kanan said, hoping to get a response.

Luminara turned, and walked toward the box Seto had seen. She turned around as she did and walked backwards. As she did, her figure shimmered. Seto didn't see her figure melt into the casket. He had already turned around towards the door, pulling his blaster from its holster. He had stolen that blaster a few years back. It was the hardest thing he had ever stolen, and he still had scars to prove it.

And it was gone faster than he pulled it out.

Ezra and Kanan spun around and stared when they heard the lightsaber ignite. They saw the tall, pale humanoid standing in the doorway, and half a gun with a cutoff, melty end in Seto's hand.

"I am the Inquisitor," the man said, smiling to show off his pointed teeth. His yellow eyes glowed eerily when mixed with the red of his blade. The red marks beneath each eye seemed amplified in the red lighting. "Welcome."

***

Zee sat in between Zeb and Sabine's legs. They had stood the entire time Kanan had been gone. Zee wondered if their legs were tired yet.

"They're jamming us," Sabine said, and started to go on some rant about something Zee decided to ignore. She instead glanced around. She didn't see any jam on them. She looked in a trooper's helmet. None there, either.

The elevator came to a stop. _Finally,_ Zee thought to herself. She stood up and walked out into the corridor. "I'll take care of this one, you get the others," Zeb said.

"And I'll take her with me," Sabine said, "I don't trust you not to lose her."

Zeb scoffed as Sabine and Zee left. Zee heard Zeb mutter behind them as they left. "I didn't want to watch her anyways."

***

All Seto and Ezra could do was watch as the Inquisitor and Kanan fought. It was spectacular, really, even though Seto realized that Kanan groaned an awful lot. That might have meant he was being beaten, which wasn't good.

Also, they were constantly talking, mostly about him and Ezra. The Inquisitor seemed to be offering to take Seto and Ezra off Kanan's hands. Of course, Kanan resisted. Until the Inquisitor sent him flying down the corridor, knocking him on his back twenty meters away.

"Your master cannot save you, boys," he bit through his teeth with his cold voice, "he is unfocused and undisciplined."

"Then we're perfect for each other," Ezra said back, firing his wrist sling.

The Inquisitor swiped at them, but they jumped off the wall, each in the opposite direction of the other. The Inquisitor slowly turned back to face them. He started twirling his double blades slowly with his hands. "I do so admire your persistence."

"Well, it's a gift," Seto said back.

"Ready to die?" the Inquisitor leaped toward them. They braced themselves, but knew they couldn't defend themselves.

But it turned out they didn't have to, because after a loud no echoed through the hall, the Inquisitor stopped dead in his tracks, then found himself flat against the ceiling with a groan. And behind him Kanan was kneeling, his hand upward. "Run," he called.

Ezra and Seto immediately ran to his side. he dropped the Inquisitor with a thud of boots against metal. He turned and raised his lightsaber. As he did it transformed into a ring with a handle across its diameter. The blades started spinning around and around on the outside of the ring.

Seto's jaw dropped. He started to seriously question why he was there. The Inquisitor charged at them, and with a tiny yelp, Seto ran with Kanan and Ezra down the hall.

***

"Hey, look it's Seto," Zee said, looking down a hall.

Sabine looked too and saw them. "Guys, this way!" The three started running alongside them. Zee automatically dropped back next to Seto and Ezra.

"Hey, Seto. So how'd it go?" Zee asked.

"Oh, it was fantastic," Seto smiled slightly to her, "we had so much fun. I'll tell you more about it later. For now..." Seto glanced over his shoulder, "don't look back."

"Okay," Zee said, completely ignorant of everything and obeying Seto without question.

Ezra glanced backwards and saw that the Inquisitor was still following them. "Secure the facility," his voice echoed through the building from the speakers, "Full lockdown."

"Well, that's not helpful," Ezra said. He glanced forward and saw the corners of the walls closing in. Blast, the blast doors were closing.

"Who was that?" Zee asked.

"It was the voice of... uh..." Seto lost his lie, "the bad guy."

"Where is he?" Zee asked.

"Where you aren't allowed to look," Seto answered, picking up speed as he tried to get through one of the blast doors that was closing on them.

Seto and Ezra both turned around in unison as Sabine shot back at the Inquisitor. He simply deflected the bullets into the wall and kept running after them. Seto groaned in slight frustration that he was still after them, but mostly in fear of him catching them. He made a fist, but left his middle finger up in the air.

"What? What's that supposed to be?" Ezra asked.

"I don't know, but my dad did it a lot," Seto replied, putting his fist down.

"Okay, I know you said not to look back," Zee said. In front of them Zeb leaped between one of the closing doors and held it open with his bruit strength. "But I'm gonna look back."

"What?" Seto said. Zee glanced back just as Sabine and Kanan leapt through Zeb's opening. Suddenly Zee stopped dead in her tracks. Seto frowned. He told her not to look back so as to let her enjoy her blissful ignorance, but he hadn't expected this to happen. He looked back at the Inquisitor. He had stopped too.

Ezra jumped through the opening now. "Seto, Zee, hurry up," Zeb groaned.

"Zee, let's go," Seto grabbed Zee's arm and pulled her along. He shoved her into Zeb, and he grabbed her across his chest. The door started to close, but Seto slipped through just before it closed on him.

"Well, that was wei..." Seto cut himself off when a red blade protruded through the door above his head. He decided not to get off his knees yet.

"What happened?" Zeb asked. Seto crawled over to him, and looked at Zee. "Out cold," Zeb answered Seto's thoughts.

"He knew her," Seto muttered, "Before she had amnesia, somehow, this Inquisitor knew her."

"But how it that possible?" Sabine asked, walking up next to him.

"I don't..." Seto yelped as a bullet went over his recently ducked head. He glanced forward and saw that the landing platform had been opened up to them. This was probably what Kanan meant when he said they didn't focus.

Seto reached for his gun, but then remembered the tragedy that befell it. He decided to just slide behind Zeb while he shot. And after he apparently threw his detonator. And picked up unconscious Zee.

They slide behind some crates while Sabine radioed Hera. Seemed like it wasn't too necessary, because the _Phantom_ was already rising up from the other end of the platform. And it was being followed by... something. Seto couldn't tell what it was, but at the moment, he didn't really care. He was just hoping they were helping. Judging by Hera's "bringing the fleet" comment, they were probably helping.

Yup, they were. Even as Hera destroyed one of the four TIE fighters, the creatures started knocking over stormtroopers left and right. There was one anti-air turret that caused a problem, but with a couple shots of his gun as he tried to keep Zee balanced on his shoulder, Zeb destroyed it.

Soon they were all on the _Phantom_ flying safely away from the platform with the Inquisitor staring at them with a look of disgust.

***

The Inquisitor stood impatiently waiting for his colleague to pick up. He had called for her on the hologram a good thirteen seconds ago. He did not want to make this longer than it had to be. She was mad enough at him as it was.

"What do you want?" JoAnna snapped as her image finally appeared.

"Forgive me, madam, but I have some news for you," the Inquisitor said, trying to sound somewhat humble. He didn't necessarily dislike her, but he did when she was angry.

"If it's not about my daughter that you lost then I don't care. But you already knew that," JoAnna said.

"Yes, I found her," the Inquisitor said, "she's on Lothal with a group of rebels, led by a Jedi, who is currently training two students. They seem to have brainwashed her, because she was willingly with them."

JoAnna chuckled, "Oh, please, she can't be brainwashed. I've tried. Do you know how rebellious she was as a toddler? No, you don't. Don't bother answering. No, she's probably had amnesia."

"Still," the Inquisitor pressed.

JoAnna sighed. "The emperor is sending me to your prison to interrogate this Terran you have there on Lothal. Meet me there, then we will talk."

"As you wish, Madam," the Inquisitor said. He shut off the hologram as JoAnna's body turned away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I wrote this whole thing by myself.
> 
> But more important than that, we are on spring break this week!! I won't make any promises, but you may get a couple extra chapters throughout the week rather than just your weekly Sunday posts. So be prepared for that possibility.
> 
> Okay, that's all I wanted to say. See ya in the next one!  
> -Kyba Star


	22. Chapter 22

The prison wasn't anything too fancy. Just a building against the ground secluded from anywhere populated. Understandable, even for the empire. At least the prisoners got a look at the green of the grass covering the flat plain around, a plain that any prisoner who ran would be shot on sight, with nothing to hid them.

The landing platform was on the front lawn of the prison, as far away from the cells as it could be while still being on the property. JoAnna's ship touched down when the sun just barely dipped behind the horizon. The ramp lowered, and she saw the Grand Inquisitor standing patiently waiting for her.

"Inquisitor," she acknowledged as she walked down to her.

"Madam," the Inquisitor answered, turning to walk next to her.

"So what more information do you have on Jayleen?" JoAnna asked.

"Not much," the Inquisitor answered, "although I have pinpointed the location of the majority of the attacks the Rebels do."

JoAnna stopped walking and turned towards the Inquisitor, "I didn't come here just for you to barely give me anymore information."

"I have more things to tell you besides that," the Inquisitor frowned, "but I don't know how much it will help you."

JoAnna half sighed half groaned. "Alright, fine. But we will have to talk about this later. I still have my primary mission from the emperor."

"Of course," the Inquisitor acknowledged, "The Terran is right this way."

Down through tall halls and tight walls the Inquisitor led JoAnna. She glanced around the different cells, taking note of the various prisoners. One was a Twi'leg who had stolen from a trade market. JoAnna could only guess that the trader gave half its profit to the empire, or the thief. wouldn't have received so much security. Another cell had two humans. She had heard their crime was speaking out against the empire on the holonet. Brave souls, she had to admit.

Past the cells and solitary they came to a room with a platform standing straight up, big enough for a person to be strapped into. Around it hung metal mechanisms that were thin but had a nasty electrical bit to them.

Strapped to the platform was a man. His head was hanging down, and all JoAnna could see was his blond hair overgrown from years in prison. Beneath, she spotted the slightest hints of a beard, one a slightly darker hue than the man's normal hair.

"Here he is: the Terran," the Inquisitor said, "Do you require a tutorial over the torture devices?"

"Oh, no, I know my way around deadly mechanisms," JoAnna said. She turned to the Terran and gave him a dangerous look. "Though I doubt I'll need them."

"Right," the Inquisitor said, stepping off to the side.

JoAnna glanced over to him. He stood perfectly still, waiting for JoAnna to do something. "Um, if you don't mind, I work best when it's just me and the prisoner. You go and wait in the meeting room. I'll join you shortly and we can talk about my daughter."

The Inquisitor seemed a bit surprised and embarrassed. He obviously hadn't expected her to ask him to leave. "Of course, Madam," he said, promptly leaving.

JoAnna turned to the Terran, sighing and crossing her arms. Another day, another Terran. Another futile attempt to find Europa. Looking toward the Terran, JoAnna groaned. "Hey, he's gone. You can get up now."

The Terran started to stir. His arms twitched a bit as he was reminded of his shackles. His neck slowly raised. He twisted it and cracked after the uncomfortable hanging. JoAnna saw his face now. His long hair fell in his face, covering his sideburns, but she still saw the green eyes, slightly big nose, and dark short beard around his lips. Age and prison had taken its toll on him, but it was still him. She knew his face anywhere.

"Hello, sister," Joshua said with a half smile.

***

"I see prison is treating you well," JoAnna said in English, giving Joshua an overview, "Your hair looks gross."

Joshua smirked. That was about what he'd expected. Sure, he had become raggedy and old. Well, no not old. He just looked it. The prison could be thanked for that. JoAnna, however, seemed about the same, if not healthier. She was a bit taller, a bit thinner. That's about what he figured.

"Oh, thank crap you still speak English," Joshua sighed, "no offense to my friends, but it has gotten tiring to have to always speak my second language."

"Please, you speak basic as well as any native in this galaxy," JoAnna said, walking around a little, "I barely hear an accent."

"I'm sure you do," Joshua rolled his eyes, "So you're the one they send to take care of the Terrans, huh?"

JoAnna scoffed. "Terrans. Mostly fakes trying to get attention. You're the first actual Terran I've met in ten years."

Joshua cocked his head a bit. "Hell of a way to get attention."

"But you seem very keen on keeping the attention away from you," JoAnna said, "How did you keep people from knowing."

Joshua smirked. "Did you know there's a shot that will change around your whole face?"

"Yes, i did."

"Well, I got my hands on one after the empire was established, and I stab myself with it. Hurts like an ass, but it was worth it. Then I get thrown in prison, and people don't pay two shits towards me. But one day, this guy who's some sort of representative shows up, just out of the blue. I still don't know what the hell he was doing here, but he sees me, and after staring for a solid, a SOLID, twenty seconds, he yells, 'get this man's facial changes undone.' And when they did that, the Naboo guy identifies me as a Terran, but not as anyone specific. I thought once they sent their 'Terran' expert, or whatever he called you, I would be done for, but... Well, now we're here."

JoAnna crossed her arms. "I don't remember you cursing so much."

"Well, you know, experience... and prison and stuff," Joshua shrugged as much as he could with the restraints.

"Okay, but where's your wife? Where's your kids?" JoAnna asked, "Tell me everything that happens, and don't leave anything out, or I will get very confused."

"Yeah, that does tend to happen," Joshua said, his complexion becoming a little sadder.

"Okay, what happened?" JoAnna asked.

"Well, there were these two people, Ephriam and Mira, who lived right down the street from us," Joshua began, "they had a kid just a little younger than Seto."

"Who's Seto?" JoAnna asked.

"He's our second son," Joshua smiled proudly, "you remember before we left that Ace was going to have another kid. Well, that's Seto."

"Oh, yeah," JoAnna crossed her arms.

"Well, turns out Ephriam and Mira run this thing on the holonet, a 'vlog' I guess you could say, that speaks out against the empire. I decide, what the hell, I'll help them. Well, time passes, Seto and their kid Ezra become close friends while I help them with their broadcasts. But after a while the empire tracked us and..." Joshua stuttered for a second as an image flashed before his eyes. "captured us."

"Well, where's Ace? Was she not identified as a Terran?" JoAnna asked.

"She... she died," Joshua said slowly.

"What? How?" JoAnna asked in shock.

"It was when we were being taken prisoner," Joshua answered, "we hid Bobyo and Seto in a back room while Ace and I fought the stormtroopers back, but there were too many of them. They opened fire and..." Joshua sighed, "they hit her first. Once they did that, they grabbed me as a prisoner and put me with Ephriam and Mira. I only see them at mealtime now."

"What about Bobyo and Seto?" JoAnna continued, more solemn from the new information.

"I called Max to pick them up," Joshua answered, "take them somewhere safe. But I have no idea if he succeeded."

"I'll contact Max and see if he did," JoAnna promised.

"Yeah, that be good," Joshua smiled. "But hey! that's all in the past. So here's my question for you:"

"What?"

"Where is Europa?"

***

The door slid open with a sudden hiss. JoAnna turned quickly to face the intruder. To her slight annoyance, it was the Inquisitor. "what do you want? I'm busy," JoAnna growled.

"I wanted to check on your progress," the Inquisitor answered, "have you gotten anything from him yet."

"Does it look like I've gotten anywhere? I've been at this for almost ten minutes, and you keep interrupting me," JoAnna snapped back, "If you want me to get any progress with this man, you will let me do my job and stop bothering me. I will come out when I come out. I don't need regular checkups."

The Inquisitor took a step back. "Sorry, madam. I will wait outside for you." The Inquisitor stepped out and the door slide closed with a hiss.

JoAnna listened for a second. No footsteps. She closed her eyes. Yup, he was right outside. She turned to Joshua. "okay, I need you to listen to me," JoAnna said quietly, "the door may have been shut but he's still standing outside."

"Kinda figured that out on my own," Joshua smirked.

"Look, I need to make it sound convincing that I'm interrogating you, so I may have to rough you up a little bit," JoAnna said as she forced Joshua's restraints off.

"Whoa, where'd you learned to do that?" Joshua asked.

"I haven't been doing nothing for the past fifteen years, I've been learning everything I can about this force. I've been reading books, speaking to people who have experience in the force, and practicing it," JoAnna answered, "that's where this next trick comes in."

"What?" Joshua asked, "this isn't going to hurt, is it?"

"No, it's gonna hurt a lot," JoAnna answered.

Suddenly Joshua found himself off the ground and flying toward the wall. With a groan he slammed and slid down the wall.

"I am going to block your memory!" JoAnna yelled at the top of her lungs.

"What?" Joshua answered, confused. A second later he flew across the room and slammed his stomach into the platform, pushing it over a little. "Why are you yelling?!"

"Because they don't understand English," JoAnna said, lifting Joshua into the air while her arm raised up. "So now it sounds like I'm interrogating you in our language, when I'm just telling you this!" JoAnna threw him on the ground as she finished her sentence.

"Oh, that makes sense," Joshua said, a little too calmly.

"Sound like you're cowering in fear!" JoAnna shouted.

"To be fair, I kind of am," Joshua said, immediately putting on the persona.

"Now, listen carefully!" JoAnna said, then punched him in the face.

"Ow. I see stars now," Joshua said.

"We have. To make this. Convincing!!!!" JoAnna lifted Joshua with the force and held him high in the air. "Now listen!! I am going to enter your mind and block your mind about Europa, Terrans, or anything to do with any of us!!!!!"

"What?"

"SeCURITY REASONS!!!!" JoAnna threw him at the door.

***

The Inquisitor stood patiently waiting for JoAnna to finish her interrogation. The shouting she was doing and the noise she was making, plus the Terran's cowering voice must meant she was making progress.

A thud sounded by the door. The Inquisitor glanced at the door. There was a tiny dent in the door. The Inquisitor drowned a shocked expression. That door was a foot thick! She was going to kill him if she wasn't careful!

The Inquisitor shook his head. She had done this before. She knew what she was doing. Terrans were her forte, his was Jedi. He would respect her profession, she would respect his.

***

"Well, could you just do it already?" Joshua begged.

"Yeah!" JoAnna threw him on the floor in front of her. He felt his cheek. There was blood running down it, "but this is pretty fun!"

"Old habits die hard, huh," Joshua said.

"Who said they were dying!?" JoAnna pushed him back against the wall. "Now, stay still. You might feel a bit of a TINGLE!!!!!"

JoAnna poked Joshua in the head with her index and middle finger. Joshua gasped as the setting around him turned a bright white, then faded into darkness as he dropped his head to his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this Chapter was written by me with a LOT of help done by darknessistheenemy, so give her credit.
> 
> And yeah! Extra chapter this week! You're welcome! Your weekly Sunday chapter will still be coming as well.
> 
> So yeah, that's all I got for today. See ya next time!  
> -Kyba Star


	23. Chapter 23

A bright light flashed into Zee's eyes as she opened them slowly. In a panic, she realized her worst fears had been realized. "Ahh!!! I'm blind!!" she cried.

"No, Zee, you aren't blind, you're fine," a voice spoke from the light.

Zee glanced up at the voice. "God, is that you?"

"What?" God said.

"Wait, bright light, God's voice, and I'm not blind..." Zee contemplated, then gasped, "I'm DEAD?!?"

"Zee, you aren't dead!" God spoke.

"I know," Zee almost started to cry, "I escaped eternal death and will now live forever."

"No, Zee, you aren't in Heaven," a female voice spoke.

Zee turned her head toward the direction of the voice, then she looked back towards God's voice. "You're married?"

"What? No, Zee I'm not God! It's Seto."

Zee heard the faintest snicker from the female voice. Zee shook her head, "Wait, Seto is God?"

"Zee, you haven't died, you've just unconscious for a week," the girl spoke, though she sounded like she just heard something funny. "Your eyes just need to adjust to the light."

"Then why can I only see the dark now?" Zee gasped, "Did you send me to hell?"

"No, Zee," the guy's voice said, "your eyes are closed."

Zee frowned. Her eyes were closed. She put her finger to her eye to make sure. yep, she felt skin instead of pain. Her eye was closed. She opened them up and saw the bright light again.

"No, Zee, don't close your eyes, it'll just make it worse!" the guy said.

"Your pupils need to adjust, keep them open," the female confirmed.

Zee obeyed, but reluctantly. After a second, shadows started to appear. She rubbed her eyes. Then Seto was there where a shadow was, and Sabine was standing next to him. Zee was lying on the couch in the _Ghost_ 's meeting room. She slowly sat up and leaned her arms on the round table by the couch. "Whoa, Seto," she said, "I just met God. He was pretty cool, but confusing."

"Sounds about right," Seto said.

"Zee, are you okay?" Sabine said, kneeling by her.

"Yeah, last time we saw you awake was when we were on Stigion Prime and you saw the Inquisitor," Seto followed up.

"Huh?" Zee said, "Weird. I know we did that, but I don't remember any of it."

Seto crossed his arm and made a thoughtful sound. "That's weird. But I guess it makes sense.'

"What?" Zee asked, "What are you talking about, Seto?"

"Ah, it's nothing," Seto smiled a bit awkwardly, "The important thing is that you are okay. Now you just stay here and rest."

"But I've been resting for like a week!" Zee wined, bouncing on the couch, "I wanna move around!"

"Not right now," Seto started to turn to walk away, "We have to get you something first for your... headache."

"I don't have a... whoa..." Zee stopped bouncing on the couch and swayed a bit, grabbing her forehead.

"There it is!" Seto said cockily. Making a head motion to come with him to Sabine, he spoke again, "now we're going to get you something for that. Don't move while we're gone."

Zee replied with a groan as she fell back on the couch. Sabine rose and followed Seto towards the rooms. Zee just groaned again, more dramatically this time, and closed her eyes.

***

Seto sighed. He had somewhat hoped that Zee had retained her memory. But the Imperial escape pod, plus her fainting when she saw the Inquisitor, equals something bad for them locked away in the recesses of her mind. They couldn't let her regain  her memories. It would turn her from a friend into a foe, and also she might give away their location. Everything would turn bad if she remembered.

"We can't let her see the Inquisitor again," Sabine sighed by him. Seto almost smirked. Great minds do think alike.

"I know," he said, "way too risky."

They turned and Sabine's room opened up for them. She sighed as she pushed her helmet off to the side and sat on her bed. "Well, what are we supposed to do with her?"

Seto blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we aren't exactly the best place for her," Sabine said, "You know, considering what we do."

"Yeah," Seto agreed, "but that doesn't mean we don't take care of her. It just means we keep her from all the missions we do."

"Yeah, but she does have tendency to wander," Sabine said, "and what are we supposed to do? Always leave someone to babysit her? What about when we have a high profile mission that we all have to go on, what then? Do we just lock her in the _Ghost_?"

Seto sighed. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we should give her to some family that will agree to keep her away from the empire, but won't get themselves mixed up in heroics that will put them at risk."

"No, we can't do that," Seto said, "She trusts us. She clearly thinks we are some sort of... family to her. To send her away would be more devastating than just doing our best to take care of her ourselves."

"Seto, we can't take care of her," Sabine sighed, "Look, I don't want to get rid of her either. she's the one person that will stay happy in a bad situation, even if it isn't for the greatest reasons. She just kind of keeps the mood up, but that doesn't mean we should keep her. If we can't take care of her, we should..."

"I'll take care of her," Seto said suddenly.

"Seto, you can't..."

"Yes, I can," Seto said, "I'm the one that gained her trust when she first woke up here. I'm the one she's always asking for help, if anyone can and should take care of her, it's me."

Sabine sighed. "Seto, you're barely seventeen. Can you even handle her at her worst?"

"I've survived with only Ezra for seven years," Seto smiled, "I will be okay."

"Well, if you say so," Sabine finally complied.

Seto smiled a little. "Thank you." He turned to go back, when he noticed something on the wall. "Hey, is that a Ice Critter?"

"Yeah," Sabine stood up and walked to the painting Seto addressed, "the creatures from the mining planet Crait, a place with surprisingly interesting wildlife."

"Wow," Seto took a step closer, "I've never actually seen one in real life, but I imagine this is the closest I'll ever actually get."

"Really?" Sabine smiled at the compliment.

"Yeah. It's really good," Seto turned his head and looked at Sabine, "have you ever considered selling this stuff? you'd make quite the profit."

"Well," Sabine thought for a second, "I don't know how smart that would be. The empire might track it back to us. But maybe when they are gone, I will."

"All the more reason to fight, then, right?" Seto smiled, then glancing back towards the paintings, said, "seriously, these are amazing. It's not fair to other people you can't see them, nor to you who isn't getting nearly enough credit as you should."

"Well, that's very kind of you, Seto," Sabine smiled towards him, a flash of light passing over her brown eyes.

Then as quickly as the moment began, it was over. "Oh, no."

"What?"

"We forgot to get Zee her head medicine," Sabine said, starting to walk out, "Come on."

***

They could hear the moans of pain from a good distance away. Seto shook his head in anger. He was already failing his new responsibility. He turned the corner with Sabine. "Zee, we got..."

Hera was already kneeling by Zee, patting her shoulder. Zee's groans increased in intensity. Hera shook her head and stood up. "It's alright, guys. She's just being dramatic."

As if on cue, Zee threw her arms in the air and let out an even louder groan, followed by, "Oh, the pain! Oh..."

"Oh," Seto said, "Well, I guess she's okay. Sorry we didn't..."

"Get her what you promised?" Hera crossed her arms.

Seto winced slightly, "Yeah."

"It's alright," Hera turned and walked back to Zee. "Just don't forget next time. I'm not always here, you know." Hera grabbed a small container from the table. The medicine, no doubt.

Seto smiled a little. There was Hera, always cleaning up their messes and making sure they were okay. But at the same time, he mentally hit himself for forgetting. Sure, he was having a talk with Sabine, but they could have multitasked and gotten the meds as well.

With another groan, Zee rolled over and fell off the couch. The groans ceased. Then Zee shot up with a smile. "Oh, I feel fine now!" She said, then stood up and walked away.

Seto crossed his arms. "Seems like you've got your work cut out for you, huh?" Sabine patted him on the back. "Don't worry. If anyone could take care of her, it's you."

Seto chuckled slightly. "Thanks, Sabine."

With one more quick smile, Sabine walked off. Seto stood for a moment,watching her walk off. Once she was gone, and after a few more seconds of standing there, Seto shook his head, then walked off to find Ezra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So not much to this chapter. Just more emotion stuff, and person to person relationships, ya know, that boring crap. Anyways, I wrote this one by myself. 
> 
> There is one other thing I want to say, though. Next week is gonna be a special chapter. Darknessistheenemy and I have been talking, and we decided to have a special writer next week. Trust me, you guys are in for a treat.
> 
> That's all for now. I won't see ya next week, but I'll see ya the week after. Thanks for reading!  
> -Kyba Star


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!! This chapter is non-canon to the story of this fanfiction and should not be treated as such.
> 
> and it's your birthday! Saturday chapter.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> (im gonna regret this)

Our tale begins with Zee wondering through the very shiny hallway on the ghost. She still didn't know how they were inside a dead person, but she decided it was normal. Clearly, she had forgotten that when her memory was lost. Clearly.

Our side character existed from his room. A tall, muscular character who had brought Zee from her previous state of stupidness. She smiled internally. Seto had made her the most smartestest person ever.

"Oh, hey, Zee," Seto waved. "what's up?"

"I like turtles," Zee said.

"Good to know," Seto said with a strained smile. It was his way of showing friendship. She could tell. Even though he acted like he didn't like it, she knew he did. Deep, deep, deep, deep, down somewhere.

Zee giggled as she walked towards the cockpit. She needed to tell Hera something. She couldn't remember what, but she was sure she would remember on the way there.

She arrived. She didn't remember. "Shooty tooty," Zee groaned.

"Forget again?" Hera asked.

"Yeah" Zee sighed, "can i try again?"

"Well, if you want to," Hera shrugged.

Zee groaned dramatically and flopped down in the chair. "I dooooooooooooooon't want tooooooooooooooooo."

"Then don't," Hera leaned back and sipped her... blue blunkielunk? Zee didn't know what it was called.

Suddenly Zee sht up in her chair. "Holy Fike," Zee said, "It's a lpc!"

lpc. lpc. Seto! the  key's wont work!

Did you try moving it round?

...

Yes.

Let me see.

***Intense blowing noises***

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa okay it's working now.

What was wrong with it.

Someone put sticky stuff around it. It wouldn't go down the whole way.

Oh. I wonder who did that.

So do I ***door closing noise***

Alright, where was I? oh yeah.

"Alpaca!!!!" Zee clapped her hands. She raced down out of the cockpit to leave and go to them.

"Bye, have fun, take Seto with you!" Hera called, "I'll just be here listening to some music."

The door closed and Zee heard a loud scream accompanied by heavy banging. Zee ran to Seto's room and banged vigorously on the door for a solid thirty seconds. "Look, Seto, if you aren't out here in three seconds I'm going to ride an alpaca without you," Zee waited, "Okay bye!" Zee ran away down the hall not waiting for Seto.

Behind her, the door opened, and Zeb and Ezra poked their heads out. "What was that about?"

"I don't know," Ezra shrugged, "something about an alpaca."

"Alpacas don't live on Lothal," Zeb grunted. "What's an Alpaca?"

"I don't know," Ezra said, "Wanna go find out."

Zeb was silent for a second. "Sure," he finally said.

Meanwhile, the great and beautiful and strong and powerful and tough and smart and important and-

Yeah, they get it.

I don't think they do.

Trust me, they do.

Okay, I trust your judgement.

Wait, why are you writing everything we are saying?

Because I say what I want to write out loud that way it will be more authentic.

But this isn't part of the story.

It's still being said.

STOP TYPING EVERYTHING WE SAY!!!!

You can't stop me.

Okay, I'm leaving.

Me too.

Bye Ezra! Bye Sabine!

Anyways, Zee was outside smiling heroically (though some fake black-haired people would say it looked stupid. SETO!!!!!). "There they are. Up there," Zee heroically pointed up at a mountain where the majestic alpaca were resting. "They call to me. My people. The ones I truly love. I know now. I. am. an. ALPACA..."

"ZEE!" Seto walked up next to her, "What are you doing?"

"Do you see them, Seto?" Zee stared, "My true family."

"Your true..." Seto gasped, "you remember?"

"Yes," Zee heroically put her fist over her heart, "they call to me. I must rejoin the Alpacas."

"Zee, you don't have to... Alpacas?!" Seto sounded confused. Zee rolled her eyes. Of course he didn't understand. Silly silly Seto.

"I must go to them," Zee said heroically, "It is where I belong!"

"Zee, there are no Alpacas on that mountain," Seto said. What a doubter. Did he not believe what was before his own eyes?

Zee turned around and faced him, making a heroic face, "you know, what? You weren't out here when I saw the alpacas, or when they called me. I became dedicated to these alpacas long before you showed up, and by Jove..."

"Who's Jove?"

"...I'm gonna ride one of them. With or without you."

Seto glanced up toward the mountain. "Okay. Do it without me. You'll be dead and/or unconscious in less than an hour." With that, Seto walked away.

Zee scoffed. She didn't need him. Sure, the mountain was steep, but she would heroically conquer it. She made a heroic pose before climbing heroically up the treacherous rocky mountain. It was hard, but because of how heroic she was she was able to heroically climb to the top with heroic strength.

Why do you keep using the word heroic?

Because that's what it is.

you can use more diverse words.

Yeah, would you like a thesaurus?

Nope. I like my version.

But it's so...

Kanan, it's perfect as it is.

ugh, fine. Come on, Hera. let's go.

Bye. Have fun writing the rest of the chapter.

Okay, now where was I?

Oh, yeah. Zee climbed to the top and smiled at her victory. Around her, hundreds... nay, thousands of alpaca roamed the land, eating grass and standing in heroic positions, as alpaca do.

She had done it. She had finally reached her family. She ran, arms open, toward the closest alpaca to her. She grabbed her fur in an embrace.

"Welcome back, Zee," the Alpaca said, "we missed you."

"I missed you, too, mommy," Zee smiled. The two separated, and Zee swung onto her back. "Onward!"

And it's all true. And I know this, because I am Z. I'm Z. SETO!!!!! Now th  ky is brokn!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Zee wrote this)


	25. Chapter 25

Seto sighed. It was that day again. The worst day of the year for the boys. Empire day. Once more plunged into the well of memories that would swish and smash its inhabitants as they try to surface, only to be torn down at the last second into its dark depths, never letting the cursed one go free.

Seto sat up a little in the booth. He had quite a few years to think that one up. He was pretty proud of it, though he had never told anyone about his metaphor. All well. They would probably find it stupid anyways.'

Seto sighed once again and leaned forward against the table. Even as Ezra walked out of the tavern, the rest of the crew lined up to stare after him. Seto didn't. He stayed in his seat. He knew what was chewing at Ezra's mind. There was more than one reason why Ezra hated this day.

"Alright," Kanan broke the silence, "with the empire distracted with preparations for empire day, and since our plans for today aren't until tonight, I thought we should take this time to reload on some supplies."

"You got it, chief," Zeb said.

"Sabine, you and Seto go to the weapons depot and see what charges or detonators you can find," Kanan ordered, "Hera, you and I are going to go food shopping."

"Wait, hold up," Seto stood from his booth. He immediately regretted it, for the chair was actually surprisingly comfortable. He decided to sit back down, "Why do WE have to do the dangerous one?"

"Seto, raiding the depot isn't that hard," Sabine said, "It's the armory that you have to worry about."

"Yeah, and I'm sending Sabine to the depot because she knows her detonators," Kanan followed up, "You're going with her because she might need the aid of a force user."

"But why can't you go?" Seto objected.

"Because I'm going shopping with Hera," Kanan replied nonchalantly.

Seto groaned. He knew that was all the reason Kanan would need. "Well, can I at least take your lightsaber?"

Kanan put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment. But Seto knew better. His eyes weren't narrow like they were thinking, they were slightly wider than usual. His mind was already made up.

"Let me think..." Kanan mocked, "No. You have little training with it, and if you lost it, then... I don't know what I'd do, but it would be bad for you."

"Okay, okay," Seto put up his arms in defense, "I'll go with Sabine."

"Besides, you two work well together," Kanan grinned as he led Hera out the door.

"Wait, what about us?" Zeb asked.

"You and Cirk can make sure the _Ghost_ is fueled and ready. If you have to, steal some more. I think we're running low," Hera called over her shoulder.

"You got it," Zeb smirked at Seto. "I got the easiest job."

"Wanna trade?" Seto asked.

"Nah, I think I'm good," Zeb replied with a chuckle.

Seto huffed as Zeb walked off to join Cirk back at the _Ghost._ "Don't let him get to you," Sabine put a hand on Seto's shoulder, "He's just stabbing at your worry. It's really not that bad. He set up a distraction, slip in while the guards are away, grab the weapons, and get out."

"How do we get out?" Seto asked, "the guards won't be distracted forever."

"That's where you come in," Sabine said, "have you been working on your Jedi mind trick?"

"Ehh," Seto scratched the back of his head, "I... well, I've gotten... better... I think..."

Sabine sighed. "Well, if that doesn't work, we'll just slip out through a window or something."

"Right," Seto crossed his arms, "eliminating the need for me."

"No, you are going to help carry everything," Sabine crossed her arms, "We aren't just stuffing our pockets. We're going to fill up some bags with detonators. Big bags."

"Oh," Seto groaned, "And there's going to be four of them."

"One for each of our shoulders," Sabine confirmed. She saw a little bit of worry on Seto's face still and sighed. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. We do it all the time."

Seto sighed. "It's just... I've never done anything worse than rob a gun from a soldier who's back was turned."

"Well, it's essentially the same thing," Sabine said, "Come on, let's get started."

***

Over the crest of a hill was the depot. It reminded Seto of a warehouse. Of course, that was essentially what it was. The Empire would make their weapons in their armories, and store them in these depots until they were needed. Seto thought that the Empire would have set up more guards than they did. They had two towards the door that led to the room where a delivery would be filed away. From what Sabine had told him, they could get to the warehouse part through a door in that part. There were occasional guards wondering around the perimeter, but Sabine assured him that they had done this so many times, she knew exactly how to get around them.

"Okay, when I give the signal, I want you to mess with that pile of rocks there," Sabine pointed to a rock stack nearby the entrance.

"That isn't multiple rocks," Seto said, "That's one giant rock."

"It just looks that way from a distance. Kanan made sure to set it up for our next attempt. Can't use the same thing to lure the guards away every time we raid here."

"How many times have you raided this place?" Seto asked.

Sabine's expression was hidden by her helmet, but Seto was pretty sure she hid a grimace under her mask. "Twice."

"What!?" Seto exclaimed.

"Shh," Sabine shushed him as a pair of guards wondered by the bottom of their hill. They crouched back a little.

"You said you do this all the time!" Seto said in a hushed tone.

"You wouldn't have agreed if I said the truth," Sabine said.

"That's a dirty trick," Seto slightly smirked.

"Don't worry. Nothing went wrong the first two times, so why would it this time," Sabine moved back up the hill again.

 _Third time's a charm,_ Seto thought to himself, _for the Empire._

"Okay, let's go," Sabine headed over the hill, "Seto, do your thing."

Seto exhaled and reached forth with the force. He soon was lost once again in the perspective of the force he had experienced on top of the _Ghost_ while chopping up trash. Only this time, it wasn't empty milk cartons he was focused on. He focused on the rock structure. With everything else vanished from sight, save the feeling of the stormtroopers close by the rock, and a squad on the other side of the building shining faintly, Seto could see that the rock was indeed cut up in a few strategic places, then put back together.

Seto now knew what he was working with, now the problem was actually moving it. Seeing things through the perspective of the force was one thing, but actually moving said object was different. Seto had had training since then, so he knew kind of what he was doing. The force flowed through all living things, Kanan had said. Focus, and you would lift the rock.

But on what? Feel the force, Kanan had also said. So Seto had eventually figured it out. He would reach out with his senses and feel the force. The empty space between the rock or whatever object he was working with would fill with... something. It wasn't something Seto was ever able to put into words. It was eerie, it was mystical, and it flowed from him, to the stormtroopers, to the rock.

Now the problem Seto usually ran into at this point was when his focus switched to the force, he would lose sight of the rock. When he asked Kanan about this, he had instructed Seto that he was focusing too much on the force. His focus had to be balanced between the force and the object. Seto thought about this, and when he tried again, the force connecting other miscellaneous objects would vanish from his sight, and the rock would reappear. When that happened, Seto would "grab" the force between him and the rock, and pull it, or push it, which would, in turn, push the rock.

Seto quickly learned that it was much easier to push people, since a Jedi could sense them even when focused on other things. The focus was much easier to balance. He had actually found this out by experimenting with his newfound ability, and pushed Ezra into a couple crates. Seto still regretted that.

Sometimes, Seto wondered if the experience of using the force was different for everyone. Some of the descriptions he had told Kanan had often confused his master. It interested Seto a lot.

He reached out and pushed the rock over. He wasn't very strong yet with the force, so it did take some effort, but the rock did fall. When it did, Seto followed after Sabine. The guards immediately turned, and headed toward the fallen rock. It wasn't very far, but it was far enough for Sabine and Seto to slip in without them hearing, as long as they were being quiet.

The room was rather large. It looked as though it could fit a small crowd. On the far side of the room was a desk, and on the other side was an officer with a gray uniform. Seto felt pity for half a second. Having to do paperwork all the time must have sucked.

"What is this?" the man asked, starting to stand, "I was not informed of a shipment coming in till several hours later today. What is the..."

Sabine didn't hesitate and shot the man with a stun gun. She had told Seto that no one would find him before he woke up. The man would assume he had fallen asleep at the job when he woke up. It did happen often at a place as boring as this place. He wouldn't remember this encounter because it was short enough that the stun gun, plus shock would eliminate the memory of the encounter.

Sabine walked on to a door by the desk. Seto followed, and the two of them entered into the warehouse. Sabine had said that there were no guards inside; they were all outside guarding the perimeter.

"Let's go," Sabine said as she walked into the huge space. Seto eyed it in wonder. There were mostly purple or red of blue crates filling the empty space, but Seto knew inside all of them were guns, charges for said guns, and explosives. He walked to the closest one and read the data file hanging on the outside of it. It read some unknown form of assault rifle. Seto made a curious noise. He couldn't open it because it was covered with other crates probably carrying the same thing.

"Hey, Seto," Sabine called further down the line of crates, "come on."

Seto gave one last glance toward the crate then headed toward Sabine. "So how are we supposed to get the stuff?" Seto asked when he caught up to her.

"See that catwalk?" Sabine asked, pointing to a platform running along the wall at the height of the highest crate.

"Ah, I see. But we can't exactly use the crane," Seto said as he glanced towards the crane controls on one end of the catwalk.

"Again, this is where you come in," Sabine said. "Not as useless as you thought, huh?"

Seto ignored the callback to a few hours ago. "What do you want me to do?"

"Jump on top of the crates," Sabine answered, "Open the top one, and start packing the bags full."

"All right," Seto said as they walked onto the lift. It was a platform with short guardrails on it, and no walls. Once it reached the top, it blended in with the rest of the catwalk.

"Okay, I read that this stack has charges in it," Sabine pointed to a nearby stack. Seto nodded and jumped up to the top of the crate. In all honesty, Seto still had no idea how the force helped him jump so high. Ezra and he had been able to jump like that since they were on their own. At any rate, it had proven extremely helpful in many situations.

Seto landed easily on the crate and pried the top off. He tossed it to Sabine and started to fill the bag with charges. The operation was extremely simple. Seto finished that one and used the force to pull the lid back to him. It was essentially the same thing as the rock, except he pulled the force between them towards himself instead of just forcefully pushing or pulling it, and in turn, the lid.

They repeated the operation for a bag of detonators. Seto jumped back and wiped his forehead. "This is much easier than I thought it would be," he commented.

"What did I say?" Sabine asked rhetorically. They walked on past another stack before Sabine pulled them to a halt with a gasp. "Those detonators!"

"What about them?" Seto asked.

"If I can take out the explosive center of it and replace it with some things from the _Ghost,_ I can make a very pretty distraction for tonight," Sabine said, admiring the explosives.

Seto thought for only a second. "Okay," he said, and jumped on top of the crates.

"Seto, wait," Sabine called a second later, "We have to get the essentials first, then we can get personal items."

"We got charges and detonators," Seto shot back. He decided to be a bit more forceful with his argument and forced open a crate across from him. He pulled a pistol from it and put it in his hand. "Besides, I've already gotten my personal item."

Sabine crossed her arms, "A pistol."

"I lost mine to a certain red-blade wielder," Seto shot back, "I thought you were worried about time."

Sabine sighed in defeat. "Fine, but be quick about it."

Seto barely put two into his bag when a voice echoed across the halls. "Hey! Why are you sleeping on the job. Wake up!"

Seto winced. That voice was filtered through a stormtrooper's helmet. "Sabine, did you close the door to the ware..."

"Hey, He's been stunned!" a second voice called, "and the door to the warehouse is open!"

Seto winced again. _Third time's a charm,_ he groaned in his head.

"Seto, we need to go," Sabine called quietly as boots echoed through the depot.

Seto groaned to himself as he glanced between the explosives. Sabine wanted these, and they were vital to a distraction for tonight. No, he couldn't leave them.

"We need them, Sabine," Seto finally said, "they are our distraction for tonight."

"Seto, I can use something else," Sabine pressed, a little desperation in her voice. The boot steps came closer now.

"Sabine, get out of sight!" Seto said. The stormtroopers were eerily close, especially since Seto couldn't see them. The echo was way more creepy than it should be.

"Seto..."

"Hide!" he snapped back as silently as possible. He couldn't risk jumping and making a sound. As Sabine finally consented and vanished from his sight, he decided to make a desperate move. He tried to lift every one of the detonators at once. He had never lifted more than one thing at a time. He closed his eyes and reached out to find the force between him and the detonators. Seto's head instantly hurt. The focus he was trying to use was harder than he thought it would be. He grabbed them with the force and tried to throw them away, but he barely got them moving. His strength in the force wasn't great, and holding all the detonators was draining his strength fast. He managed to lift them out of the crate with pain shooting through his mind. A second later his strength faltered. The detonators were barely over the side of the crate when they fell out of the air.

"What was that?" the stormtroopers said. The boots were running more rapidly now. Seto barely noticed. He slumped over in his weakness and fell into the now empty crate. With his head throbbing, and his vision fading, Seto lost his consciousness.

***

 _Oh, no,_ Sabine turned as several dozen little thuds hit the ground somewhere behind her. She could guess what that meant. She decided to forget Seto's commands to her and ran back. The lid of the crate was still off and Seto had vanished. "Seto?"

No reply. She heard boots somewhere below her, very close below her. The troopers had found the explosives. She called Seto's name again quieter yet more desperate. Still, she heard no reply from Seto.

She groaned. She had no choice. She had to assume Seto was inside that crate, and something had happen to him. She had to get to him somehow.

But how? She glanced around to find something to use to get there. She spotted it a second later. The crane. It sat right above the crate Seto was no (hopefully) in. She jumped and grabbed the crane. Inching her way across it, she hoped that the troopers didn't look up. She looked down and didn't see them. She decided they were on the other side of the crate. She took advantage of this and slid faster across the crane.

She looked down when she was finally over the crate. Beneath her, Seto lay motionless in the crate. She sighed in relief. He hadn't fallen off the crate and into the hands of the troopers. her relief was short-lived, however. Seto was still unconscious. She had to find out how to get him out of there.

Dropping from the crane, she landed in the crate, accidentally landing on top of Seto. He groaned, but didn't wake. "Seto, Seto, get up," Sabine shook him. he was out. Somehow, he was out, and out for a good long while. Sabine groaned. She didn't know what to do.

She had sat there for maybe five minutes after getting her and Seto in relatively comfortable spots in the crate when Seto stirred slightly. Sabine gasped silently with hope. Seto's eyes opened slowly. His green eyes seemed slightly clouded. "Sabine?" he wondered inquisitively.

"Seto! You're okay," she said relieved.

"Oh," the clouds seemed to dissipate, and Seto's eyes were back to their shining green. "Sorry, Sabine. I only got a couple of the detonators."

Seto showed her his bag. Inside were two detonators. Sabine chuckled a little. After all that, Seto was still worried about the dumb detonators. "Seto, it's fine," Sabine assured him, "Can you get us back onto that catwalk?"

"I don't know," Seto admitted, "I tried to force those detonators away to lure the guards away, but I faltered and failed. And now I don't think I have any strength left in me."

Sabine's face fell to a frown. Their only hope was now blasted to bits. They had no way to get out now if Seto couldn't get them back. She didn't know if she could carry Seto back across the crane, or even get back to the crane with him.

"I'm sorry," Seto sighed. Sabine looked back up when he broke her thoughts. "This is my fault. If I had only been stronger, we would be able to get out of here. I'm sorry," he repeated, "I failed us."

"What?" Sabine was taken slightly aback, "Seto, that's not true. You're stronger than a lot of people I know."

Seto glanced up at Sabine. His face had doubt written all over it. "Seto, I examined you while you were out. You should have been out for a long, long while, but you're awake. Besides that, I've seen you take out stormtroopers with your bear hands. I've done that before, but not without a couple of bruises along with it."

Seto started to perk up a bit. But the doubt was still plastered across his face. "But it's all gone now. I used it all up using the force. I can't even stand up."

"To hell with the force," Sabine snapped back to him. Seto seemed surprised by her sudden change in tone. "What good did the force do you when you were on the streets scavenging for food? What good did it do when you were fighting to get out of the imperial academy? Or when Kallus had us pinned down with Vizago? Or even when the Inquisitor was trying to kill you and Ezra after he sent Kanan spiraling across the floor?" Sabine took a breath and sighed. "Seto, you aren't strong because of some force." She put her hand on Seto's chest, "You are strong because you are Seto, not because some force gave you your strength. You're strong because you're you."

Seto looked down again. Shame seemed to cover his face. He seemed slightly embarrassed. "Seto," Sabine put a hand on his shoulder, "I know you're strong enough."

Seto looked up. His emerald eyes met her hazel ones. They seemed to shine a little in the light streaming from above them. Seto still seemed unsure of himself, but her speech seemed to make him realize he wasn't as weak as he thought he was. She decided he needed one more ounce of motivation, and offered him a small smile.

Seto broke eye contact and looked down, but his doubtful frown broke into a small smile as well. "Thanks, Sabine," he muttered quietly. Sabine just smiled at him a little bit larger.

Seto sighed and stood up in the crate. Immediately, he realized, the lift was lowering to ground floor. Seto winced. He had completely forgotten about the stormtroopers.

"Alright," he said to Sabine as she stood up beside him, "hold on tight."

Sabine wrapped her arms around Seto's neck. Seto grabbed the bottom of her legs just to keep her steady on his back. Taking a step backwards, he readied himself to go. in the distance, the clank of the lift reaching the ground echoed across the depot. It was now or never.

Seto took a step forward and leaped. His strength wasn't entirely full yet, and Sabine did weigh him down, so I suppose we must excuse him for barely grabbing the guardrails of the catwalk. He lifted up with all his remaining strength and rolled over the rails and landed on the catwalk.

"Okay," he said standing up. His voice was lined with bewilderment. he obviously couldn't believe he made it, "How do we get out of here?"

Sabine glanced towards the wall and uttered one word: "window."

"What? Sabine, we've gotta be at least four stories up. The depot has lots of height as well as girth," Seto's eyes thinned a little. _Girth?_ he thought to himself.

Sabine just pulled a grappling hook from her belt, "We use this."

Seto groaned. "What is it?" Sabine asked.

"This is a bad time to say I'm scared of heights, isn't it?" Seto asked sheepishly.

Sabine groaned. In the distance the clank of the lift reaching the catwalk echoed into their ears. "Well, time to face your fears," Sabine said. She grabbed Seto's arm and pushed him out the window, while wrapping one of her arms around his chest. She used her other arm and shot her grappling hook onto the window seal. It caught them with a aggressive stop to their descent. They slid safely down the rest of the way.

"Okay, let's go," Seto said as Sabine wrapped her grappling hook back up.

"Wait, close the window," Sabine reminded him.

"Oh, yeah," Seto felt a little dumb. he reached out with the force and closed the window, "Okay, now let's go."

Luckily for them, no guards happened to be passing at that moment. They slipped easily away from the depot and over a hill as the sun started to set. Sabine's words still hung in Seto's mind as they ran on. She had been right, apparently. His strength was more than he thought it was. Still, he had failed to move that massive group of detonators. He may have been strong, but when the time came, would he be strong enough? He vowed silently to himself at that moment, that he would. He definitely would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I wrote this chapter. Now with that out of the way...
> 
> SCREW ALL THESE MUSHY RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING CHAPTERS!!!! WE GET IT!!! CIRK HATES SETO FOR NO REASON, SETO AND SABINE HAVE BECOME GOOD FRIENDS AND ZEE IS... Zee. Seriously, though, I'm done with these type of chapters for now. At least for a few weeks. It's time to progress the story.
> 
> But it'll have to be next week. For now, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next one.  
> -Kyba Star


	26. Chapter 26

With all that had transpired in the past hour, Seto was, at the very least, shaken to his core. With the near death experience they had, well, experienced back on Lothal, plus with the Inquisitor tracking there every move added up to something Seto did not want to have to confront. But here they were: flying straight into the nasties in the shadows. And that wasn't even the worst part. Well, for him technically it was. All he had to do was stay in the phantom and watch Zee, fulfilling the oath he had made to take care of Zee. Ezra, however, had to actually make contact with the monsters. Seto shuddered. He couldn't imagine, or didn't want to imagine, what Ezra would have to go through.

He had been chosen for a reason. Even though both of them had been struggling with connecting with other creatures, Kanan saw something in Ezra. "His potential," Kanan had said, "just needs to be unlocked. He seems to have a special knack for connecting with creatures, but... something's holding him back."

Seto had a few guesses as to what that was. Nonetheless, what ever it was, Seto seriously hoped Ezra could get over it before the creatures decided it was time for dinner. After all, those gunships were much stronger than the _Phantom._

Zee was sitting across from Seto in the small space the _Phantom_ provided. He knew she knew what was going on, but she still seemed oblivious to the gravity of the situation at hand. As they finally passed into the darkness and the click of the _Phantom'_ s lights clicking on, Seto hoped her obliviousness wouldn't change into carelessness.

With a hiss, the ship came to a halt. "Seto, Zee, stay in here," Kanan said, mostly for Zee, "Whatever you do, don't look through the windows."

Seto already knew this. With the Inquisitor coming here, he couldn't let Zee steal a glance at him. He would have to be very, very careful. As he rethought the situation, he realized that maybe the nasties weren't the worst part for him.

"Let's go," Kanan guided Ezra out. With that, Zee and Seto were alone.

"Soooooooo..." Zee said half a second after they left. A thud sounded on the roof as Kanan climbed up to remove the tracker, "Why are we here?"

"Because," Seto explained, "the Inquisitor can use the force to sense where we are, plus there's a tracker on the ship. Because of this, We force users have to lead the Inquisitor away from the rest of the group."

"Okay, buuuuuuuuut," Zee started, "I'm not one of you guys. I can't lift rocks."

_You probably can,_ Seto thought to himself. "Because you could be helpful. You are our secret weapon. If they call for help, then you jump out and fight the bad guys, then we win!" In actuality, this couldn't be farther than the truth. If the inquisitor could sense them, like Kanan suggested, then there was no way he would miss someone he used to know. Kanan had reasoned if she knew the Inquisitor, than maybe she knew a little more about the force than she let on.

"Oh," Zee said gleefully, "That's sound fun. I get to kill people!"

Seto sat up and put his back against the wall. She said that with way to much joy in her voice. "Yeah, but it might be a while before they need you. Maybe you should take a nap so you have the energy to fight the bad guys, should Kanan or Ezra say they need you."

Zee crossed her arms. "I don't want to sleep. I have to much energy." Seto sighed and waited a good thirteen seconds. "Okay, I'm tired," Zee said, and slumped over three chairs at once.

In a few seconds Seto heard the soft and rhythmic sound of Zee's sleeping breaths. He sighed and slouched in his chair. That was easier than he thought. Maybe he could leave whenever the Inquisitor showed and help Kanan and Ezra.

The Inquisitor showed up a few minutes later. The hiss of a shuttle outside echoed through the shadows. The boots of troopers clanked from wall to wall and against the _Phantom_. Seto glanced out the window and saw lights flicking on from the stormtrooper's guns. The Inquisitor's shadow was there as well.

A shout of exclamation filled the place as the nasties leapt from where Ezra had them resting and jumped on the stormtroopers. They barely got there shots out before they were taken down, some of them finding there arm on the far side of the room, while their leg rested on the opposite end.

The Inquisitor, however, took out his blade and sliced a creature as it leapt. Another he grabbed with the force and shoved it to the side. He said something, then a blue glow entered the dark. The next sight Seto saw was Kanan and the Inquisitor locked in a battle for life.

A groan escaped from Zee. Seto looked down at the girl. To his horror, she had started to shiver in her sleep. Each clash of the blades outside, though faint, made Zee's shivering worsen. Suddenly her arm shot out to her side. More spasms followed. Her leg kicked and almost hit Seto's shin. Seto stood and walked to the cockpit to avoid her. She followed him.

Seto rubbed his eyes. Zee stood up in front of him, her shoulder still twitching back and forth. Seto had reached the end of his walking space. He almost smashed the buttons on the _Phantom_ 's controls. "Zee?" he asked, hoping for an answer.

Zee said nothing. She only reached out her hand towards Seto. She didn't move to hit him, nor did she grab him. Seto's eyes widened. He knew that gesture all too well.

Before he could move, a large metal pole came flying through the window. It passed Seto's ear with only a centimeter between the two. Seto instinctively ducked and put his hands over his face.

His hands then slammed on his face with force that split his skin as the metal pole swooped down to hit him. He felt a small stream of blood ooze its way out from beneath his left cheekbone. He put his hands down again to see Zee lifting the pole again to strike him once more.

Seto made a noise and slid between Zee's legs. Zee apparently knew this was his only opening, and squeezed her legs against his sides. Seto stopped short of escape as the pole swooped down and his the back of his legs. with a groan he felt pain shoot through his right thigh.

Seto gritted his teeth. If Zee wanted to fight like this, then she would get a fight. Seto closed his eyes and focused. He searched for anything that would help him.

Another hit struck his calve. He gritted his teeth harder. _Screw it!_ he thought, and reached out with the force.

The pole flew upwards in Zee's grasp and slammed her in the nose. Her legs stopped holding him and he rolled from her grasp.

"Zee," he called once he was safe, "what are you doing?"

She didn't reply still. She turned to look at him. Seto looked in her eyes and had a realization. Her eyes were hazy, and half closed. She was still asleep! The battle outside must have subconsciously awoken some of her memories.

Seto made a face to himself. That was a bit of a leap. Another hit of Zee's pole sent him hitting the _Phantom_ 's latch. Nonetheless, it was the best thing he had. The battle outside was still going on. But what would he use? He looked around. There was nothing around to use. He looked up to Zee, just in time to see the pole strike his forehead.

With a groan, he fell all the way to the ground. he didn't know what to do. He wished Kanan would finish off the Inquisitor already.

But his new perspective gave him access to whatever secrets were beneath the seats. He spied something. It was...  Tissues?

Another strike to his ear. Seto let out a louder grunt than before. That strike made his ears ring. He reached under to grab the stray tissues scattered across the ground. He really didn't like touching them, but whatever was on them had hardened since use. Seto groaned. Somehow, that made this worse.

Seto looked up. the pole swung down at him, but this time he was ready. He slid easily beside the pole now that he knew what to expect. He realized even her swings felt tired. He slipped to her side and punched her straight in the face. "Sorry," he whispered as she clattered into the chairs.

Before she could move again Seto quickly stuffed the tissues into her ears. Her movements slowed as soon as he shoved the last one down. The pole swung towards him, but it got slower and slower as it approached. Soon it came to a halt, and slipped from Zee's fingers as her body slumped over in the chair.

Seto groaned as he leaned his back against the wall behind him. His cheek was bleeding, his legs were hurting, and his ear was still ringing from that last blow. As much as he liked Zee, he really wished they didn't have to bring her. But at least their suspicions about her connections to the force were confirmed.

"Kanan!" Ezra's voice called somewhere outside. Seto's mind immediately leapt away from Zee and to Ezra. He limped to the _Phantom_ 's door and opened it up. He was greeted by the sight of Ezra standing over an unconscious Kanan. He was standing dangerously close to a ledge of some sort of pit. The Inquisitor was walking ominously toward Ezra while pulling Kanan's lightsaber from Ezra's hands with the force.

Seto didn't even think twice. His legs burned, and almost dropped him. His speed was greatly decreased, but the Inquisitor was pushing Ezra dangerously close to that ledge. Seto immediately ran towards them, Zee's pole in his hand.

***

"...your friends will die, and all you hoped for will be lost," the Inquisitor finished his rant.

"No!" Ezra could only think to shout back. The Inquisitor had pushed him to his edge. He started to feel something. Something very unjedi. He was about to do something he may regret, but he didn't care. He just wanted the Inquisitor to die.

His urge was suddenly cut off as his attention changed. the Inquisitor suddenly groaned as a deep clunk resonated from him. Ezra looked and saw Seto standing behind him. Seto looked horrible. His face was cut and he was limping. His pose was very off, as if he was struggling just to stand there. In his hand was a metal pole. On the tip of it was what Ezra could only assume was blood. Blood that may have been coming from the small flow coming from his hair.

The Inquisitor's angry scowl turned into a sinister smile when he saw Seto. His eyes flicked down for only a second, then were back looking Seto in the face. Ezra caught what the Inquisitor noticed all too late: The Inquisitor had only ignited one of his lightsaber's blades.

With a crackle the second blade flew out and slid without resistance straight into Seto's side. With a gasp and a soft groan Seto's hands flashed towards his wound. The Inquisitor removed the blade before Seto's hands had a chance to cut themselves off. he clutched the fresh hole in his skin and clothing. "You see what happens when you decide to be a hero?" the Inquisitor sneered as Seto's body slumped to the ground.

Ezra, however, didn't hear the Inquisitor or his evil chuckle afterwards. His ears were deafened by the hate raging in his mind. He felt more hate for this single being than any other in the entire galaxy. He hated him so much, the ground started to rumble. He opened his eyes and glared at the Inquisitor, whose face had gone to one of fear. Good. He should be afraid. Ezra could feel the hate. It was permeating him. It screamed a scream that echoed throughout the whole cavern. with a chop of his hand, he commanded the hate to kill the Inquisitor.

And it stalked forward on all four to do just that.

***

Kanan shook his head to clear it. The fog fled away and gave way to a place even darker than before. There were two lights, however, a red and a blue light shining to his left. he glanced over to them. It was the Inquisitor! He had both his own and Kanan's lightsabers. he had Ezra pinned against a ledge, and Seto was laying on the ground behind him, with a smoldering wound on his side.

What was worse was the massive monster climbing over the ledge behind Ezra. it roared once and then leapt toward the Inquisitor to kill. The Inquisitor jumped back and ran from the creature until he was cornered at a set of stairs. Kanan got up and walked as fast as he could to Ezra and Seto.

Kanan patted Ezra's cheek. Ezra groaned as he opened his eyes. "Kanan? What happened? I-I feel so cold."

Kanan nodded in understanding. "I know. We're leaving."

Kanan grabbed Ezra and flung him over his shoulder. Glancing at Seto, he knew he had to get him to the _Phantom_ somehow. But he had Ezra slung over his shoulder, and after picking up  his lightsaber where the Inquisitor dropped it, he couldn't carry Seto as well. Plus, he didn't even know if Seto was alive. Looking at the wound, he didn't see Seto surviving that slash.

Kanan groaned. The choice was obvious. In fact, there really wasn't any choices. he couldn't carry them both. Yet he knew he wasn't going to leave Seto there. he had to figure something out.

After a couple seconds, and a grimace, he realized what he had to do. "sorry, Ezra," he verbally said as he pushed Ezra with the force. He landed and rolled across the ground before his back slammed against the _Phantom_ 's side. Kanan quickly grabbed Seto and ran to the ship. His wound had clotted up, but his breathing was shallow and getting slower every second.

Kanan didn't spare the Inquisitor a glance as he ran to the _Phantom_. He had to get Seto back as soon as possible. he opened the ship, dumped Seto on the seats, and pulled Ezra onto his feet. As he did, though, the Inquisitor's lightsaber flew spinning towards him. He deflected it onto the ground and set Ezra on a chair next to Zee, who had tissue in her ears for some reason. Kanan started up the _Phantom_ and flew out, shooting the imperial's transport while he was at it. And just like that, they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay okay okay! I am back from the dead! Sorry about the two-week silence. Stuff been getting in the way, but I hope the Chapter was good enough to earn forgiveness for my lazy ways. Also, as compensation, I post this one on Saturday instead of Sunday. Also, because it was two weeks late, I will also answer any questions you ask me in the comments of this chapter. (Bit of advice, don't spoil the story for yourself).
> 
> Anyways, I wrote this entire chapter myself (Probably another reason its late. I'm so lazy). And I hope you guys enjoyed it. 
> 
> Again, sorry. And I will (hopefully) see you next week.  
> -Kyba Star


	27. Chapter 27

With a rumble that shook the entire ship, and a flashing of lights, the _Phantom_ docked into its little pocket on the _Ghost'_ s back. Hera stood at the bottom of the steps, leaning against the wall. Sabine sat tense on the couch, and Zeb stood menacingly in the corner. The tenseness in the room could be cut. Hera hid it, fairly well. Her arms occasionally rubbed her forearm lightly. She didn't know how she could stay so still. She didn't know if they were all right or not. She wasn't able to make contact with them via radio. She was worried.

A thump sounded above. Then the sound of a door opening. Sabine stood to her feet, and Zeb stopped leaning on the wall and stood up straight. Running sounded above. And then a shout.

"ZEB!! SABINE!!! HERA!!!!!!!"

It was Ezra. The trio glanced at each other once in worry. Ezra's voice had been in pain. He was pleading. They all had the same horrible thought pass through their mind.

You can imagine their shock when Ezra came sliding down the stairs, seeming perfectly fine. "What are you doing? Come on, we need your help."

Before anyone could question his sudden demands Cirk stepped into the room. "I heard yelling? What's going on?"

"It's Seto," Ezra said, his voice lased with rush and fear for his friend. Sabine took a step back when the news hit her ears.

Hera, however, sprung toward Ezra. She grabbed his shoulders. "What happened?"

"The Inquisitor stabbed him," Ezra sputtered through his emotions.

Hera patted his left shoulder, doing her best to hid her own fear for Seto. Hers wasn't nearly as bad as Ezra's, so she decided not to show it. Instead, she turned to Cirk and Zeb. "Cirk, Zeb, get him down here. Sabine, get Chopper and something... clean." That wouldn't be easy for her, Hera knew. Fighting an impossible fight wasn't exactly the cleanest job.

Nonetheless, she nodded and headed off; at the same time, Cirk and Zeb rushed up the ladder to the _P_ _hantom_. Hera stood in her place with Ezra, waiting for them to bring Seto down.

"It's all my fault," Ezra muttered under his breath.

"Ezra, you weren't the one holding the blade," Hera started.

"Wasn't I?" Ezra cut her off, "Kanan almost got killed as well. I tried to stop him, but the Inquisitor just took Kanan's lightsaber from my hands. We were only able to leave when I accidentally..." he stopped. With a sigh he put his head down. "I'm scared, Hera. I'm scared for Seto."

Hera sighed. She didn't know what he was so slow to tell her about, but Kanan would probably tell her later, so she was fine with not bringing up an apparently painful event. All she could do was put a reassuring hand on Ezra's shoulder. "Fear is... okay," she started again. When Ezra didn't stop her this time, she continued, "Fear is human." Then she chuckled softly, "fear is Twi'leg, fear is mandalorian. Everyone is scared sometimes. You being scared for Seto only proves you care."

Ezra looked back up and looked as if he was going to respond, when Zeb dropped down the ladder. "Okay, let him down now. Gently. That hole is deep."

Slowly, the body of Seto came into view as his legs dangled toward Zeb's open arms. His back was to Hera, but she could still see a dark burn in the bottom left of his shirt. The blade didn't seem to go all the way through his body, but it did get close enough to darken his shirt, though it was hard to tell from the black t-shirt he wore. Still, it was just that bad.

Suddenly his body lurched violently and dropped at sudden speed. Zeb barely wrapped his arms around Seto's torso before he hit the ground. "Hey!" he snarled back up the ladder, "What's the big idea?"

"He slipped," Cirk's voice rang.

Zeb groaned and set Seto on the table. He was too tall for the table. His legs dangled off the edge. No matter. His wound was by his stomach anyways. About that time Sabine came back into the room. "I managed to find some bandages. Just don't ask me where from."

Hera took her advice as well as the bandages. "Alright, let's get a good look at the wound," Hera said, then her face turned into a frown, "what happened to his face?"

"I don't know," Ezra admitted, "He was like this when he left the _Phantom_ before he got stabbed,"

"Who was by the _Phantom_?" Hera asked.

"No one," Ezra said, "He was watching Zee."

Hera closed her eyes and groaned. She knew what that had to mean. She hoped Zee hadn't retained whatever she did to Seto. Well, the fact that they got back safely proved that.

"Well, I have some somewhat good news," Sabine said after rapidly examining the wound, "The Inquisitor didn't hit any vital organs."

"He did attack pretty him carelessly," Ezra said, some hope barely breaking through in his voice.

"But it's not all okay," Sabine continued, "some of the arteries didn't cauterize properly. He is losing blood fast. We need to get the bandage on him fast."

Suddenly there was a deep groan. Seto's eyes flashed open. Everyone looked at him with surprise. They hadn't thought about what would happen if he woke up.

"Ugh," then his eyes widened, "ow. What is... AH! What happened? AH!!!" Seto threw his head back against the table and tensed at the pain suddenly registering in his brain. "AH!!!!!"

"Knock him out again!" Hera ordered, "quickly."

"WHAT?!" another scream of pain, "What's going on?"

"Sorry, Seto," Sabine said before hitting his forehead with the butt of her pistol. Seto groaned once then rolled his head over. He was out again.

Hera sighed, "And we need to get something to numb the pain."

***

Zee watched as the crew took Seto away to the medbay.

 _What happened_? she thought to herself, _Last thing she was on the phantom with Seto and then this..._

Zee shook her head as she sat at the round dining table and put her head in her hands. Her head was pounding and the light just made it worse. She closed her eyes and focused on the pain trying to find a cause.

She was worried for Seto. He was like the brother she never..

Suddenly, a image of a young man came to her mind as clear as crystal. "Don't you forget about me while you're off on your first mission, ok?"

This man- she knew him! He was so familiar but his name..

Zee groaned in frustration and pain.

' _Why?!'_ she screamed mentally, _'Why can't I remember?! Why can't know my family or what happened to Seto?'_

Zee just felt helpless and useless to the crew. She couldn't remember who she was or why she was here, let alone what her damn name was.

Energy built up in her head pounding aching for release. Zee tried to contain it but her anger, fustration, and sadness climbed till it pushed over the edge.

Anything that wasn't bolted down to the ground flew away from Zee, striking walls and doors. Had there been anyone in the room, they would have ended up with a face full of tools or utensils.

Zee screamed as the energy exploded from her and she slumped over the table in exhaustion.

Kanan and Cirk ran in and looked over the wrecked room. Cirk went to Zee, gently touching her arm.

"Zee?" he asked, stepping back as Zee jerked up and looked at them with big eyes.

Cirk heard Kanan suck in a sharp breath, his hand flying to rest on the hilt of his saber.

Zee's eyes had changed from her normal gentle green to a sharp, sickly yellow gold.

 _'The eyes of a Sith.'_ Cirk and Kanan thought simultaneously, though neither of them knew.

" I remember something." Zee whispered, her eyes growing wider.

"What?" Cirk said, much more gentle than Kanan had ever seen him be toward anyone.

"Names. I don't know who's they are." Zee said, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

"Tell us." Kanan said, going to Zee's other side, placing his hand on her arm.

"The names it's.." Zee swallowed, gathering her courage. "Damian.. Jayleen... JoAnna."

At the mention of the last name, Kanan felt Cirk's fear and dread; he saw Cirk's eyes widen and his mouth fall open before he schooled his face to impassive stone.

"What do they mean?" Zee asked, seaching Cirk's and Kanan's eyes for answers she didn't have.

Cirk cleared his throat,"It means," he said,"you are remembering your past."

***

It had been a few days since Seto had been injured by the Inquisitor. He had a huge white bandage wrapped around his waist. His clothes were not their normal black clothes; they had been rendered an annoyance by the Inquisitor and the hole he put in it, then soaked in blood. He now wore a grey shirt with tan pants that Cirk, the only person on the _Ghost_ with extra clothing. As reluctant as he was, he chose giving Seto his worst clothes over seeing his shirtless body walking around the _Ghost._

With a groan Seto's hand shot to his side over his bandage. Ezra reached for him and put an arm under his shoulder and one on his elbow. Seto shook his hand at Ezra. "No. I'm fine. I've gotta learn to stand up again eventually."

"Yeah, but maybe not rush the process," Ezra said, though his arms loosened; he still kept them hovering around him.

Seto sighed as he took another step through the Lothal's grass. The grass did calm him a bit. It seemed to make it a bit easier for him to walk. Probably because he had been trapped on his bed from the numbness in his left leg, constantly having Kanan and Hera acting like their child had been hurt, and Sabine constantly stopping by just to ask if he was okay. Sometimes she came with Ezra, and he usually stayed around and kept Seto company. Sometimes he would even fall asleep in the chair they had set up by Seto's bed. Seto wasn't complaining. His heart was warmed by their care for him. Still, it was nice to get out of the ship and be outside.

Seto stumbled again and his hand hit a rock to steady himself. Ezra's hands reached out to help him, but Seto stopped him with a wave of his hands. With all that being said, he still hadn't walked in several days. He was like a baby new to the process.

Seto sighed. He looked down at his hand resting on the rock. That rock looked very inviting. Seto was tired. It was amazing what having blood loss would do to the strength of the leg right below the wound. And his leg wasn't even the worst part. The crew had no real medicine, and their painkillers were extremely crude. They lasted usually about half an hour, then the pain that shot through his entire left side almost made him crumple to the ground and cry. Since the wound had time to heal a but by now, it didn't hurt to that extent anymore. But it still hurt. Badly. Really, really, badly.

They had tried to reopen arteries that had been cauterized shut, but often it would result in more blood gone. He didn't mind too much though. It beat having his blood clog and kill him. Sabine and Cirk had mild training in medicine, just enough to get him through it alive, but that was pretty much it.

Seto stared at the grey slab again. He really was tired. He didn't have any strength ever anymore. At least not in his left leg. He sighed and his forehead dropped to the stone. It was cool to the touch. His eyes closed as his weight shifted from his legs to the rock.

"Um, Seto?" Ezra said behind him.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to sit down?"

Seto was silent for just a second. "Okay," he said after a moment of self-contemplation. Sitting made way more sense than resting his head.

Ezra jumped on top of the rock and helped Seto up. They were both sitting in silence for a few moments.

"Hey, Seto?" Ezra spoke, "what did it feel like? To be so close to death?"

Seto stiffened a bit. That wasn't a feeling we wished to revisit. It was scary, but... surreal. He couldn't really explain it, because he was out of consciousness soon after the blade slid through his body. Still, for a moment, he felt a mix of fear and surprise.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Ezra spoke quickly.

Seto sighed. "Ezra, what am I supposed to do?"

Ezra cocked his head in confusion. "What are you talking about?""

"Well, I'm supposed to be a Jedi, right?" Seto asked, "But... all I can seem to do to is move rocks and cut cartons. I got the basics, but even the Inquisitor can move a rock."

"So? You'll still improve."

"That's not it, Ezra," Seto sighed. He had a lot of time to think about this. He needed to tell someone. "I've tried and tried. I'm not improving. When I tried to move a bunch of detonators at once, I fainted. When Zee was sleep-fighting she beat me to a pulp. She was asleep. And then the Inquisitor took me down with one hit." he sighed, "While you're over here connecting with animals as small as lothcats and as big as that monster from the asteroid."

Ezra was silent for a moment. "Kanan said I had a knack for it," he said after a moment. "And don't forget, you figured out the basics way before I did."

"Yeah, but then I got stuck and couldn't move, no matter how hard I tried," Seto reasoned.

"But you got the basics," Ezra pressed, "You definitely got the potential to be a great Jedi."

"That's the thing, Ezra," Seto said, "The basics aren't a 'Jedi only' thing. Everyone has to know the basics. It's when the Jedi part of class started that I started failing."

Ezra thought about this for a second as well. Seto filled the silence. "Maybe I'm not meant to learn this the 'Jedi way.'"

"What other way is there?" Ezra asked. Seto didn't answer. Ezra immediately looked down after asking. They both knew the answer to that question.

"Hey," Ezra dropped from the rock onto his feet, "I have an idea: let's forget about 'Jedi' and 'the force' for a while, huh?"

Seto sat up a bit. "What?"

"I have just the thing to take your mind off your troubles," Ezra smiled, "You're already dealing with that hole in your side. Might as well tackle your problems one at a time, right?"

Seto gently dropped from the rock, landing on his right foot, and gently putting his left foot on the ground after. "Makes sense."

"Alright, good," Ezra waved him forward, "Then come on. Sabine and I have something we want to show you. I'm sure you're going to love it."

***

Zee looked up at the looming tie fighter, colored in an collage of yellows, oranges, and checkers. 

 _Wow,_ Zee thought, taking in the strange beauty of the fighter. _Sabine is so good at creating all this cool art._

_All I'm good for is hurting people._

Zee sighed, placing a hand on the ship, tracing the lines painted on it.

 _All the things that happened to Seto... was it my fault?_ she wondered to herself.

Seto hadn't been his normal perky self after the encounter with the Inquisitor. Zee had been told by a heartbroken Ezra and Sabine that she had brutally beat Seto in her sleep. In her SLEEP!

_If I did that in my sleep, what could I do awake?_

A deep voice echoed in her mind, a voice so familiar it made her long to know who it was. "You are a warrior, destined for greatness and to bring honor to your family and the-"

Zee's eyes shot open as she heard voices coming her way. Seto and Ezra. She couldn't let them know what she had remembered. Who she really was. So Zee lied; she put on her happy smiley persona and greeted the boys with a joyful shout, demanding Seto admire Sabine's beautiful artwork.

As she stood by the boys, staring at Seto who looked more tired than she had ever seen before, she dropped the false face for a minute.

"Seto?"

"Yeah Zee?" Seto said, looking at her with tired eyes.

"I'm sorry." Zee whispered, dropping her eyes to ground level. She didn't see Seto's eyes grow wide with surprise.

"Wha-"

" I'm sorry I hurt you. I know I was asleep when it happened but it doesn't change the fact that I did hurt you and the guilt has just be eating at me and-" Zee rambled as tears formed in her eyes and dropped down to the ground.

Strong arms wrapped themselves around Zee as she cried, holding her close. A gentle voice whispered," It's okay, Zee. I forgive you."

Zee smiled at Seto kindness. "Come on." Seto said, pulling her and Ezra away from the tie," I'm hungry for some dinner."

"I think I can help with that." Sabine piped up after staying silent through the whole affair.

Sabine pulled a few ration bars and cans of caf from her bag and handed them to Seto.

"Well," Seto said," Its no dinner but it'll do for now."

The trio laughed as they sat down in the long grass to watch Sabine paint the tie, their sadness and fear forgotten in the laughter.

But one thought rang throughout Zee's mind, clanging around her brain like an angry bat.

The end of the memory long forgotten and recently remembered.

"..To bring honor to your family and the Empire. My little Sith."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, alright, alright. New chapter. Liked it? Well, how would you like two or three a week?
> 
> School's out, so I'm going to possibly be putting up chapters more and more. Having said that, chapter schedules may end up being more... crazy. So, be prepared for that. Or don't. Just leave and completely ignore all of this. 
> 
> Also, Darknessistheenemy wrote the second part and pretty much all of the last part. I wrote the rest.
> 
> Thanks for reading again. See you next week.  
> -Kyba Star


	28. Chapter 28

"Hey, Ezra," Seto asked as Sabine put another line of orange across the wing's frame, "when was training today?"

"Um, I think it was..." Ezra looked down and thought for a second. Suddenly his eyes widened and his mouth opened in an awkward grimace.

"It's supposed to be going on right now, isn't it?" Sabine sighed.

Seto groaned and put his face in his hands, "Damn it."

***

The _Phantom_ hissed as it landed gently on the ground in front of the huge mountain. Seto squinted as light poured through the now open latch. He stepped out onto the hard stone ground. It was a bit chilly, he had to admit. They were a bit North, he supposed. With the tiniest shiver he turned toward the massive mountain towering above them. It was less of a mountain, more of a spire of rock. It was like a spiral cone. It twisted upward till it eventually scrunched into a pointed tip.

"You better find a way inside," Kanan said to them, "and hurry. The empire has access to old Jedi records. They may know about this temple and have it under surveillance."

Ezra and Seto both nodded, then headed towards the mountain. They scrutinized the sides while Kanan sat on the ground in a meditative position. There was a circle drawn in the stone around Kanan. Apparently an area for masters to wait for their apprentices.

Finally after finding nothing, Ezra called back to Kanan. "Nothing. Not even a crack. But I know this is the place, I can feel it. Seriously, can you give us a hint?"

Kanan opened his eyes and looked up towards Ezra. "Don't look. Listen. Use the force to hear the stone and its story."

Ezra turned and put his hands against the stone. Seto decided, since Ezra was better at this than he was, that he would just wait for Ezra to find something.

"The stone," he began slowly, and sped up as he spoke, "the temple, it wants to admit me. No, wait, not me. Us. Master and Padawan. Together." He stood straight and smiled a proud smile. Seto lightly patted his back as a congratulations. They started to make their way back down to Kanan.

"Then together it shall be," Kanan said as he stood to meet them. They stood in another circle, one that actually formed a dip in the ground. They turned toward the temple and reached out with the force.

But something was wrong. The temple would not open. Seto felt it revolt. It felt as if it despised them for some reason, and rejected them.

Ezra put his hand down and opened his eyes. "I don't get it. It said it wanted to admit us."

"...Master and Padawan," Kanan finished.

"Yeah," Ezra said, "You're the master, and we're your padawans. So what's the problem?"

Kanan sighed. "The Jedi had a rule. A master could only train one padawan at a time. Given the presence circumstance, I decided to train you both. Since the Jedi are all gone now, I figured it would be forgiven. But this temple still operates according to the old orders code. It doesn't accept us because we are breaking the code."

"So, what do we do?" Ezra asked.

"One of you can't connect with the temple," Kanan answered.

Seto sighed at this. "I think it's obvious who that is going to be."

Ezra looked at Kanan with eyes asking if Seto was right. Kanan nodded. Of course it was the right thing. Ezra was much better at this sort of thing than Seto was. Ezra and Kanan turned toward the temple and closed their eyes again with outstretched arms. The temple began to churn and twist, rock crumbling against rock.The spiral began to twist upward. round and round it went till a door became visible between two rocks. Ezra opened his eyes and his mouth dropped in shock.

"Don't lose focus," Kanan said to Ezra, "We don't want this thing crashing down on us."

Ezra nodded and walked excitedly ahead, while Kanan walked comply behind him. Seto stood still for a second, thinking. Only one padawan. Why, he wondered. Kanan seemed to be handling them fine. Besides that, the twisting of the temple still had him in slight shock. He had realized then that Ezra had become more powerful than either of them realized. He shook his head and followed his master and his friend into the temple.

Inside the temple were two rows of brown pillars, covered in dust. In fact, the whole room looked as if the maid had gone on holiday for quite some time. Seto walked up closer to one of the pillars to inspect a figure leaning against it. He almost gagged at the sight of the skeleton covered in brown robes. He couldn't tell what species it was, though it was humanoid. About that time Ezra let out a cry. Seto glanced at him, then backwards as the entrance slowly became blocked by rock. Ezra let out a frightened noise as Seto stumbled and fell onto his butt.

"You lost focus," Kanan crossed his arms.

"Well, dead guys are distracting," Ezra defended himself, then added, "Maybe Seto should have helped raise the temple instead."

Seto let out a light chuckle. "No, you lasted a solid second and a half longer than I did."

Kanan shook his head and walked onward toward an passage on the wall opposite of the entrance.

"Alright, this is where you go by yourself," Kanan said, stopping a couple feet from the entrance.

"What?" Ezra cried out, "Well, where are you gonna be?"

"Right here, with them," Kanan replied, gesturing to another skeleton, "Master's who's padawans never returned."

"Wait, wait," Ezra protested as Seto's eyes widened with fear, "You're leaving your life in our hands?"

"You left your training in mine," Kanan shot back.

Just then a noise like the growl of a large creature or a groan of machinery in the distance echoed from the passage, and Seto got his first good look at it. It had sides that were full of ridges, but had no cracks that he could see. It was taller at some points, and shorter at others. It seemed to have been maintained, but never changed from its natural form.

Ezra and Seto both sighed in unison before setting off into the passage. Once in, a large stone started to lower in front of the entrance. "Wait," Ezra turned around suddenly, "What exactly am I looking for?" he called under the lowering stone.

"Nothing and everything," Kanan, who now sat again in that meditative position on the floor, said back.

"That doesn't help!" Ezra said back.

"I know," Kanan said, and the stone slammed shut.

Ezra turned to Seto. Seto only sighed before they headed off down the stone passageway.

"Hey," Ezra said to Seto, "You've been pretty quiet today. What's bothering you?"

Seto looked at the ground for a second, thinking of how to word his answer. "Ezra," he finally said, "Remember what I told you this morning?"

"What, about how you weren't improving like I was?"

"Yeah, that," Seto confirmed.

"What about it?"

"'What about it?'" Seto repeated, as if it were obvious, "Ezra, we are at the beginning of a trial of life and death! If I was to fail this, then what would happen to you and..."

"Seto, relax," Ezra tried to calm him down, "You'll probably do fine."

"A 'probably' isn't going to cut it," Seto snapped, "This is on a level that you are at. You listened to the temple, you raised it from the ground. Hell, you sensed that the temple was here in the first place."

"Well, Kanan did have the autopilot on..."

"Kanan expects me to be able to complete this. He has put his life in my hands! But I'm not ready for this yet! And I don't want to be the reason he or you turn to dust in that room," Seto said quickly.

Ezra stopped and turned to Seto, "Hey, don't think you're alone in this. I have to make it back as well. Don't you think I feel some amount of nervousness in this whole thing as well? I have had to have Kanan show me every step I have taken. He told me how to communicate with the temple, he told me how to find it. This is my first time doing basically anything without him!"

"And when have I ever done anything without his help?"

"Well, for starters, when you and Sabine raided that weapons depot, you moved the rock..."

"You could do that," Seto rolled his eyes.

"And then you lifted an entire crate of detonators on your own!"

"After which I passed out," Seto shot back.

"You think I would have done better? I wouldn't have even dared to try without Kanan there to help me," Ezra said.

Seto didn't reply this time. He stood there with his head slightly down thinking on those words. Ezra took the opening. "Seto, I don't know if either of us are ready for this. What I do know is that worrying about failure before it even begins isn't going to help us."

Seto nodded slightly and sighed. "Alright. Let's go, then."

Ezra sighed, "Good. Because I didn't even know I had that motivational stuff in me, and I have no idea how much more I could have fed you."

The two walked on until the reached a room. This room was still mostly the maintained but otherwise untouched rock of the passage. However, on the wall opposite of them, there was a wall that had the same design and texture as the room before the passage. there were three openings on this wall, as tall as the wall itself. Ezra sighed. "Great," he said, "should have brought the holocron."

"Which way are you going to go," Seto asked.

"Well, I think WE should..."

"Ezra, i highly doubt that a temple made to try one padawan would have our trials intertwine," Seto interrupted with a raised hand. "I'll just go... this way," he finished and walked down the path farthest to the right. once in he was greeted by a passage identical to the passageway from earlier. But instead of leading to a different room, this passage just got darker and darker as he went across it, till soon he was in pitch blackness.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the darkness. "And when did this news arrive?" The voice was female. It was silky, flowed like butter, and Seto would recognize it anywhere.

Seto took a step and suddenly the dark was gone, though the light that replaced it was not much. It was night. He had entered from the door to a broom closet into the back of a large living space. Across from him was a wall with a door that led to a narrow hall, with the entrance to the house on the end. Inside the large space, there was a large sofa that extended across almost the entire wall the broom closet was connected to. There was a circular rug in the middle of the floor. In the corner farthest from him there was a short table, and on it sat a holo-projector. To Seto's right on the back wall was a door. That door lead to another hallway, which had the backdoor on the back wall, and two doors on the opposite wall. One led to the room where the two boys slept, and the other led to the parent's room. Seto knew all this instantly. Of course he did. It was his house, after all.

On the sofa there were two figures sitting. One was his mother, Ashley Yoshi. Her black hair, fake like Seto's, was down half her back, and flowed over her right shoulder. Her face was smooth and flawless, not a pimple or freckled denting its beauty. Beside her, holding her hands, was Seto's father, Jonathan Yoshi. His blonde hair was neatly combed over to one side, and his short but tamed beard covered his chin.

"Just a few minutes ago," his father's soft but commanding voice said. "We need to either hid the kids, or get them out of here. And fast."

Ashley sat for a second and thought. "Is there anyone who can come and take them away?"

Jonathan thought for a second. His face snapped upward as it appeared someone crossed his mind. "There is one person. You remember my nephew?"

"You mean the tall ones?" Ashley asked. "Max and Calvin?"

"Yeah," Jonathan confirmed. Seto's forehead wrinkled with confusion. He didn't know his father had nephews. He didn't even know his father had siblings.

"Well," Jonathan continued, "I don't know where Calvin is, but I do know that Max is flying around, supposedly looking for Terrans scattered throughout the galaxy."

"Why would he be doing that," Ashley wondered, "Unless..." she gasped, "Josh, do you think that Europa is still out there somewhere?" Seto's brow wrinkled further. 'Josh'? He had never heard his father called anything but Jonathan. Seto convinced himself it must have been a trick of the temple. It was obviously showing him this, so it could screw around with the vision should it choose to.

"Max seems to think so," Jonathan confirmed, "Personally, I haven't believed him; but if we have to, we can get him to get us, or at least Seto and Bobyo, out of here."

"Oh, I hope so," Ashley sighed, "Jonathan, I'm so scared."

Jonathan reached out and pulled her into a hug. "I know. But we have endured worse than this. Remember the Martians? Or Geanosis? Or the time whenever Caleb and Aaron..." Jonathan fell silent quite quickly after that.

"I know. I just..." Ashley shuddered and pulled herself closer to Jonathan. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"I know, Ace. I do to," Jonathan said back. Seto shook his head. 'Ace'? What kind of weird names were these?

Suddenly darkness returned, except this time it was more of a mist. He couldn't see anything, except parts of the floor and the corners of the walls. "Why are you showing me this?" Seto said quietly upward toward the smoke.

Suddenly his mother's voice broke the darkness again, but it was a hushed whisper. "No, stay here. Max still plans to come here and take us away to Alderraan. Just wait for mommy and daddy to take care of this."

Seto's mouth dropped open as he felt tears build up in his ducts. He turned upward again. "No, please. Don't show me this. Anything but this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know I said there would be more chapters more often, BUT I wanted this chapter to be good, so I spent a lot of time just thinking about how Seto's visions would go, plus how to execute them, plus minor details like describing the house. However, I decided I couldn't leave you guys handing without a chapter for too long, and this one was starting to get long, so I decided to end it there and finish it next time. I don't know when the next chapter will be, but I hope however long you have to wait I can make worth it.
> 
> That's all for now. I'll see you in the next one.  
> -Kyba Star


	29. Chapter 29

Seto glanced confused at his mother. Why was she putting them in the broom closet? Weren't they supposed to be leaving for Alderrean soon? He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to Ezra yet. And he still had to pack his favorite stuffed Loth-cat.

"Now whatever you do, don't open this door," his mom said as she backed away. "This will only take a moment."

The closet door slid shut, leaving Seto in pitch blackness with his brother beside him. "What do you think is going on?" Seto asked Bobyo.

"I don't know," Bobyo admitted, "It's very weird. I think I heard dad say something about the empire."

Seto gasped. "The empire's coming here? Do you think dad got a special job and we're gonna be rich?"

Bobyo cocked his head at Seto. "No, I don't think so."

Seto shook his head. Bobyo always thought the empire was bad. Seto didn't understand. He hadn't seen them do anything bad before. Just because Bobyo was two years older than him didn't mean he knew everything. Seto was smart too.

"They're here," Seto heard his dad's voice on the other side of the door, "Get ready."

Seto walked up to the closet door and put his ears against it to hear the confrontation, with hopes of proving his brother wrong and rubbing it in his face. Another hiss sounded as the front door opened. "Yes, officers?" he heard his father ask.

"Are you Jonathan Yoshi?" he heard a voice. It was layered by the sound of a stormtrooper's helmet spouting the words through a speaker.

"Yes," his father confirmed

There was a click. Seto recognized that click. He had heard it before, whenever the Imperial soldiers were dealing with traders in the marketplace. It was the click that sounded right after they took out their guns. Seto frowned. They only did that with the really bad people.

"You need to come with us," the soldier said.

"What for?" his father said in a defiant tone.

"For crimes against the empire," the soldier said, his voice becoming more menacing, "The transmissions which you have assisted Ephraim and Mira Bridger in transmitting have spoken against the emperor, a crime punishable by death."

"Where's the evidence?" Seto's father demanded. Seto knew that tone. It was the tone he gave Seto whenever Seto did something wrong. He could imagine his father's crossed arms at the soldiers. They were done for now. His father could get anyone in trouble.

"I don't provide evidence," the soldier said back, annoyance growing in his voice, "I just arrest the people I'm told to arrest. Come on, move out of the house. Now!"

There was the sound of two footsteps, which happened almost simultaneously. "Where I'm from, a person is innocent until proven guilty."

"Then you shouldn't have come here," the trooper said.

"You're probably right," his father replied. Then a loud blast sound shot through the air. Seto tensed at the sound. Gunshots. The one caused an echo of a dozen more shots to ricochet outside the closet.  A groan sounded in the middle of the shots occasionally. Seto knew by the filtered sound they were stormtroopers. Still, his arm was tense and his legs froze underneath him.

"Seto," Bobyo said, half scaring Seto, "Get away from the door."

Seto looked back at his brother, then glanced at the door again. He wanted to. He so wanted to run backwards as far as he could and hid in the darkest corner of the closet. However, something in side him said no. Something inside him held his feet steady where they stood. That was fear. Something else, and urge Seto could not identify, told him to open the door. Seto almost broke the strong hold of fear on his feet at the suggestion of such an action. However, the urge was huge, and too much for a small nine year-old kid to handle. He pushed the button to open the closet.

"Seto!" Bobyo said, shocked. "Close the door."

In front of them, red bolts of energy flew through the hall where the front door was, hitting the wall or the floor and producing a burned spot plus little flames wherever they landed. Seto stood frozen in the closet doorway. He heard his brother's words, but he couldn't move. He was more scared than he had ever been before. Why were the soldiers shooting at his parents? They had never done anything wrong. Had they?

Seto's mom fell backwards into Seto's view on the wall across from the entrance of the hall. She was clutching her forearm, but she held a blaster. Seto gasped and took a couple steps forward, before fear gripped him again. His mom was hurt. He didn't know where she got the gun, but she wasn't doing well with it against the troopers. Her eyes swiveled around in her head for a second, then they met Seto's. They noticeably widened in fear for her child. She mouthed a word to Seto. "Go," she tried to communicate. Seto couldn't. He was frozen in place.

His mother turned her head, a fresh look of determination on her face. She lifted the weapon and fired just as a bolt hit her in the side. Seto gasped. His mom did not fall yet. She landed with her elbow on the floor and shot back. A white hand fell onto the ground. A laser bolt flew through the air and hit Seto's mom in the middle of her chest. She dropped the gun and fell backwards onto the floor. Seto's eyes widened as the realization of what his eyes had witnessed ran through his mind. His mother made one more valiant attempt to get on her feet, but as soon as she tried, another bolt flew at her and struck her in the back.

Once more, her eyes and Seto's met. She mouthed one more thing to him. Seto couldn't make it out. His vision blurred as tears filled in his eyes. Emotion streamed in liquid form across his face.  _No,_ he thought to himself, _this can't be happening. Everything was fine until now._ He kept telling himself it was only a dream, but that didn't make the dead body just several feet away from him stand up and hug him with reassurance, like she always did when he had a nightmare. There her corpse lay, no matter how many times Seto tried to blink it from existence. He couldn't hold back his cry. "Momma!" he heard himself scream.

But despite missing what she said the first time he saw her die, this time, Seto did see what his mother had mouthed to him. He looked down at his crying nine year-old self as the troopers turned to him. "There's a kid!" a trooper shouted, motioning three of the soldiers after the child  as young Seto ran out through the back hall and out the back door, while Bobyo stayed hidden in the darkness of the closet. Seto barely registered any of that. He had experienced it all before, eight years ago. He was more focused on what he had missed last time, and had seen this time. Just before his mother's eyes lost all color, she had tried to say, "I love you."

Seto stood, trying but failing to hold back tears. He felt his cheeks tickle with the stream of water flowing across them. He remembered how he had run from the soldiers. How he never looked back. Not when they shouted after him, not when warning shots yelled after him, not when he heard a thud behind him, or a sudden hiss followed by the troopers screaming in pain. Something had stopped them chasing him. He didn't care. He kept on running, all the way to Ezra's home, where he discovered that he had experienced a similar thing.

Seto's remembrances were cut off by the remaining troopers voice to another trooper. "Leave him alive. Our orders were to arrest them."

"What about the wife, sir?" the trooper asked.

"We'll just say we met with some resistance," the commander answered. Seto noted that his father made no noise as he was dragged from their home. He had given up fighting.

Then a surprise came to Seto. A man, dressed in black robes, with curly blonde hair atop a face covered in dirt walked into the living room. What surprised Seto most was the ignited green lightsaber in the man's hand. He looked around the room, surveying the damage. He noticed Ace and took a small step backwards in surprise, then sighed. He realized it was over. His lightsaber sheathed itself.

The man walked over to the broom closet and looked inside. "Hello? Anyone in here?"

"Wh-who... are y-you?" Bobyo's voice came from the dark of the room.

"I am Max," the man said, "Your cousin. I came here to take you away. It seems I was a little late."

Seto tuned out here. He thought about this, why the temple had shone him this vision. He stared at his mother's dead body on the floor. His tears came back again. "I'm sorry, Mom," he said aloud. "I... I wish there was some way I could..." he could barely speak. The vision had unburied memories he had locked in a vault and buried in the deepest recesses of his own mind. He was flooded with emotion he had denied himself to feel, because of how it hurt. It hurt so, so badly. He never wanted to feel this again.

"I... couldn't do... anything," he said between tears. "I just... stood there, helplessly. I'm sorry, Mom."

"But now you have a second chance," Max said behind him. Seto knew that his message was meant for Bobyo. Then, a thought passed through his mind for the second time. The temple may have been editing the vision. Perhaps it was meant for him. He knew what it meant, of course. But he wasn't sure if...

"Right there, stop him!" a stormtrooper's voice sailed through the air. Seto looked and saw three troopers advancing on him. He turned, assuming they were attacking Max. He was surprised to find that Max and Bobyo had vanished.

A bolt flew beside his head. They were aiming at him! Seto's eyes widened in fear. They could SEE him! How!? He didn't have any time to dwell on that thought as another shot flew over his left shoulder. He didn't have time to process what to do. His body took over. And his body ran. Right through the broom closet's door.

The light instantly drained and the broom closet wall vanished in the dark. Seto braced himself for the inevitable crash with the back wall. The back of the room never came, though, no matter how far he ran. The dark suddenly was cut by a dim white light in front of Seto. It grew larger as he ran. He noticed then that he was in some sort of tunnel, and that light was the exit. Seto ran faster, and the light quickly ran to meet him. But in his haste, he failed to notice something on the ground in front of his right foot. With a yelp, he stubbed his foot against it and tumbled forward, rolling right through the light and into something hard and metal.

"Whoa, kid, are you all right?" Seto heard a deep growling voice ask. He knew the voice by now. It was Zeb. Seto opened his eyes. They were greeted by light that seemed blinding after the darkness before. Seto rubbed them and looked around. He was on the _Ghost_. Behind him was the door of Sabine's room. In front of him was Ezra's room, with its door wide open. "You seemed pretty scared," Zeb said. Seto looked to his right to see the big Lasan standing a few feet away, bending down to try to be a bit more level with Seto.

Seto groaned as he tried to stand. "Stormtroopers were chasing me," he said to Zeb.

Zeb made a confused face, then turned to look in the bedroom. "There's no one in there, Seto. Maybe you had one too many death sticks or something."

Seto frowned. He looked into the room. It was just Ezra's room. No perpetuating darkness, and no stormtroopers. His frown deepened as he processed the last part of Zeb's words. "Deathsticks?"

Zeb shrugged. "What else would make you so jumpy. Probably saw a shadow or something," then Zeb chuckled, "They must have messed with your eyes, too. You must have saw a white shadow instead. Hehe. Imagine that. A white shadow. Hehe."

"I... don't do deathsticks, Zeb," Seto said, pushing himself up to his feet while his back dragged on the wall behind him.

Suddenly the door to Seto's left opened and closed rapidly. In that short amount of time, Kanan stepped through, his lightsaber ignited. His shoulder had a burn mark on it, and his empty hand was clutching his forearm. For the strangest reason, Seto couldn't remember if there had been a door there before or not. Actually, he found a huge gap in his memory about this entire space. Had the meeting room with its rounded couch and the circular table always been off the hall where these rooms were, and had said hall always been this short? He wanted to think on that some more, but the situation left him no time to.

"Kanan? What's going on?" Zeb asked as Seto's confused and worried face conveyed the same question.

"It's the Inquisistor," Kanan panted. He was struggled to find his breaths for a moment, "He found..."

Kanan's words were cut short by the igniting of a red blade, which cut straight through the closed door, stabbed through Kanan's back, and protruded out his chest. "Kanan!" Zeb growled, pulling his gun off his back. The door slid open as Kanan stumbled forward onto the ground. The blade, still ignited, cut through Kanan's body. Seto and Zeb got a horrified image of Kanan's cauterized lungs and ribs, not to mention the brain inside his split skull. Though the cauterization helped to somewhat censor the image, Seto could tell what each part was. Clutching his scar, he remembered what cauterized arteries looked like. That was certainly not what he remembered. The Inquisitor stepped through the now open door, with a proud look as he glanced down at his kill.

"You monster!" Zeb growled, shooting at the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor easily blocked his bullets back at Zeb. one struck Zeb in the shoulder, another in his side.

"What's going on..." Hera said as she and Sabine entered the scene from the back door. She cut herself off as her eyes took in the whole scene. "Kanan!" she cried when she noticed the split body.

Sabine and Hera reached for their guns, but they weren't able to pull them from their holsters before they were pulled into the air, with their arms forced to their sides in an uncomfortable military-like position. Seto turned his head and looked at the Inquisitor. He had a toothy grin as his arm was extended out toward the two of them. A hiss sounded toward the two women. Seto swiveled his head toward the noise and saw Cirk and Zee standing in an open doorway. Cirk instantly reacted by reaching for his gun, but his arm worked against him. It stopped inches short of the weapon, and twisted in a way the human arm was never meant to move. He let out a loud scream of pain as the arm kept twisting farther than it should have. Zee looked on the Inquisitor with fear in her eyes, not the normal blissful ignorance that Seto had come to know. He knew what that must have meant. But to his surprise, he found herself flat on the ground, being pushed down by some invisible force.

"You are useless to me now," Seto heard the Inquisitor say, "You have joined with the enemy. Now you will die with the rest of them."

Zeb was kneeling still, clutching his wounds before he flew backwards toward the others. Cirk was lifted up, and so was Zee. They were all gathered in the center of the room in a nice, easy to slice column of people.

"Seto!" Sabine cried out to him, snapping him out of his trance, "Help us! Stop him!"

Seto mentally scolded himself for doing nothing and turned on the Inquisitor, who was stepping over Kanan's split body with his arm still extended out toward the column. His foot kicked Kanan's hand, sending his lightsaber spiraling across the ground. Seto's eyes widened. Kanan's lightsaber! He reached out with the force and pulled it to his hands, igniting it. He took one swing at the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor instantly switched his focus to Seto and made their blades connect with a flash of purple and the smell of smoke.

Seto groaned as the blades pushed against each other, each trying to get the advantage on top of the other. Suddenly there was a loud pop, and Seto found himself flying backwards, with Kanan's lightsaber flying through the air, breaking into three broken pieces, and landing well behind Seto. His eyes widened with fear as he now found himself completely defenseless.

"Now you will join them," the Inquisitor said to Seto. Seto got onto his feet with a shaky jump, and extended his hand out to push the Inquisitor backwards. But when he focused on the force, he saw it everywhere. It wasn't just connecting himself, the inquisitor, and the other beings in the room. It was connecting everything. From the lightsaber in the Inquisitor's hand, to every molecule of air that floated in the room. Seto instantly found himself with a massive headache. He fell backwards as he lost his focus with the force.

The Inquisitor grinned down at Seto."You are no Jedi," he said. Seto found himself rising unwillingly toward the Inquisitor. He tried to move his head back as he was pulled uncomfortably close to the Inquisitor's own face. "You can do nothing against me. Now, you will witness what your weakness has done to your friends." The Inquisitor slammed Seto into the wall and walked onward. Seto tried to move, but he was pinned against the cold metal wall. He found himself shivering. Not because of the cold, but because of the fear the Inquisitor had put in him. His worst fears. The Inquisitor had made them come true right in front of his eyes. His own failure to learn to use his gift properly had resulted in this.  He tried to close his eyes and look away, but his eyes just twitched. He felt as if someone had sealed his eyelids to his skull. He couldn't move his neck away either. He could only stare helplessly.

"Finally," the Inquisitor said, raising his blade to strike the easy target, "the nuisance that has plagued me for so long, is now dead!"

His blade stayed in the air, even after his dramatic words. His arm made noticeable tries at swinging, but the strain resulted in nothing but a strained sneer on his face. His head swiveled to his left, where his eyes noticeably increased in size. An arm appeared in Seto's vision, clothed in a dirty orange sleeve, and a hand gloved with pale green, which was lighter on his fingers. The arm moved forward toward the Inquisitor until the full figure of a person came into view. A young man's body came into view, with long blue hair that fell just inches above his shoulders. Ezra's face was schooled and emotionless, reminding Seto of how Kanan told them that Jedi did not think with their feelings. From where Ezra came from, Seto had no idea.

The Inquisitor found himself suddenly flying backwards. He hit the wall and his body slumped. A small part of Seto's mind noted that there had been a lot of people hitting walls in this fight. The Inquisitor's body straightened, and he swung his blade at Ezra. Ezra dodged, took a sidestep toward the Inquisitor parallel to his blade, and grabbed his lightsaber's handle. He ignited the second blade which opened straight into the Inquisitor's chest. His eyes opened with shock. His normal, eerie smile was replaced by a massive, frown of disbelief. He looked down at the blade lodged between his lungs. Ezra decided it was not enough and shoved the blade a little deeper. The Inquisitor didn't even notice. He was already slumped over against the wall, dead.

Ezra pulled the blade from the Inquisitor. His body slid down the wall onto the ground. Seto noticed a little hole burned into the wall behind where the Inquisitor had been stabbed, before he found himself as well falling to the floor, released by the force's iron grasp. He landed on his hands and knees. he looked up at Ezra with gratitude in his eyes. Ezra did not return the look. "Seto," he spoke, his voice full of command and anger held back by a brittle, "what happened to Kanan?"

"The Inquisi..."

"Do you realize what just happened?" Ezra cut him off with words so harsh Seto stumbled back a little, "The Inquisitor could have killed everyone!"

Seto glanced over at his friends. They were all standing up from a pile of their bodies jumbled under where they had been floating. Sabine was the first one up. "Why didn't you stop him?" she asked softly, her brown eyes meeting Seto's own green eyes. Seto could see the fear and shock still hovering in them. But something else was there. Sadness. No, disappointment. He had disappointed her. He had disappointed all of them. Hera sat on the floor, with a look of sadness and rage as her eyes went passed Seto to the place where Kanan lay. Cirk held his arm, still wincing at its contorted, twisted form. Zee had gone frozen with shock. Her memories must have come back. That, plus what she had just witnessed... Seto doubted she would ever be the same. Zeb stared at him with a pissed off look. To be honest, he wasn't much different than normal. But the obvious elephant, Kanan. He had done nothing to stop that.

"I... He had me pinned, I couldn't stop him," Seto tried to say.

"Jedi are supposed to be able to stop people like him," Ezra said, kicking the Inquisitor, "people that serve the dark side. Kanan died, because YOU failed to do what he taught you to do."

"I know, I know," Seto almost cried. Suddenly the man Max's words echoed in his mind. _Now you have a second chance._ Seto closed his eyes and put his hands over his eyes. This was his second chance, and this time, when trouble arose, he had a chance to stop it, and he failed. Had Ezra not saved them, his new family would have all been gone, and he could never get back what, or who he had them lose. He didn't dare look into the eyes of his friends. They were no doubt staring at him in shame.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, "I'm so... so sorry."

"What a pitiful sight," he heard a rough, accented voice say. Seto looked up in shock. He found himself back in the main room of the temple, where Kanan was supposed to be waiting. Kanan was not there. However, standing in front of him was the Inquisitor, and around him were a dozen soldiers, six on his left, and six on his right, spread out around Seto in a semi-circle, with their guns cocked and primed to fire when the order was given. Seto felt a jolt of fear zip through him as he realized his lack of weaponry to defend himself with.

"I can't blame you," the Inquisitor spoke once more, "I would be sorry if I were you too. Failed your master, let him rot in the Jedi temple. Failing the test you were faced with."

A test? Of course it was a test. Now that Seto thought realistically, he realized how ridiculous it had been for him to think he was actually back on the _Ghost_. And of course he had failed.

"You are no Jedi, boy," the Inquisitor sneered at him.

"No," Seto said back, "I'm not. I know that I'm a failure, and I know that I won't succeed, no matter how much I try. I know that I was given a gift, and have failed my master, myself, and my friends in my lack of learning how to use it. I know that, and I accept it. And... I accept what that means for me now."

"Well, wasn't that inspirational," the Inquisitor said sarcastically to the troopers around him. None of them even gave a muffled chuckle, nor did they move from their positions. "Now," the Inquisitor continued, "It is time for you to redeem what you have earned."

Seto took in a deep breath and tried to stand up straight. "I know."

The Inquisitor ignited his blade with a sharp-toothed smile on his face, and raised it above his head. With a swipe, he sent the blade crashing down toward Seto. Seto let his nerves get the best of him, and he closed his eyes and winced.

"Stop the test."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO!! I am finally done. That took way longer than I thought it would. I'm sorry it did take as long as it did, but I wanted this chapter, specifically this chapter, to be the best it could be; because while the setting for all the others were, for the most part, pre-set by the Rebels series, the temple was a chance for me to make up whatever I wanted to make up, so long as it helped further the story and accomplish what I was trying to accomplish, which I'm pretty sure it did. I guess this one, plus the end of the last chapter, kind of help showcase how good I am at coming up with my own setting and scenario. I hope it was good.
> 
> Anyways, you may have noticed that it kind of ended weird, and that's because this chapter took TOO DAMN LONG TO FINISH!!! So I decided to end it right there and conclude the "temple adventures" or whatever you want to call it, in the next chapter. After that chapter, I am taking the back seat for a bit and GM_Creed will be providing you with Chapters for a little bit.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll see ya in the next one  
> -Kyba Star


	30. Chapter 30

"Kanan Jarrus," Master Yoda continued, "my eyes, deceive me, do they? Two apprentices, have you?"

Kanan twiddled his thumbs a bit when Yoda finally brought up the inevitable observation. He awkwardly remained silent while thinking of how to explain to the ancient master of the Jedi the reasoning behind his action. He felt like a padawan again, with Yoda staring into his eyes, looking for something. Yoda found it.

"Master Yoda, I had no choice," Kanan found his voice, though it still wasn't very confident, "had I not taken both Ezra AND Seto who knows what would have happened to the one I ignored."

"What _would_ have happened?" Yoda echoed, "seen, have you not, what _has_ happened, by training them both?"

Kanan furrowed his brow. "What are you saying, master?"

Yoda sighed. "Kanan Jarrus, how blind you have become. The pain you have put your apprentice through, see you cannot. Blinded, you have become, by the pressure you have upon yourself put."

Kanan looked down at the ground and thought about Seto and Ezra. He went through his remembrance of their training.  He hadn't seen anything wrong with either of them. Ezra, of course, was unfocused as always, though he had been getting a little better. Seto wasn't quite grasping the newer concepts they had been working on, but Kanan was sure he would catch on eventually. He just needed to keep training.

Yoda noticeably sighed. Apparently Kanan had missed what he was talking about. "Master, tell me, what have I missed?"

"No," Yoda replied after less than a second of silence, "for you to discover, that is. Master, you now are. Guide you, no longer can I. You must learn to see, or a master, you will never become."

***

Seto slowly opened one eye. He should have been dead by now. Why wasn't he? And who's voice was that which said "Stop the test"? Seto saw first the Inquisitor standing over him, though not by much. They were both pretty tall. His red blade was currently inches from Seto's face. Seto winced when he saw how close.

He almost closed his eye again, except a blueish glow caught his eye. He opened his other eye. Yeah, there it was; behind the frozen stormtroopers that formed a semicircle around them, a blue glow walked. Literally, it had the motion of a man taking cool, confident strides.

The glow started to envelope one of the troopers. It broke around and through his armor. Slowly, Seto saw that it had a form. it WAS a man! He had hair that looked brown covered in blue sunlight falling behind his shoulders. His chin and upper lip had been glazed with a well-trimmed brown goatee and mustache. His tan robes complimented his brown cloak. The man's hands fell loosely to his sides.

His composure was confident and calm, but not threatening. Seto felt safe in front of him. Safe enough that he stepped away from the frozen form of the Inquisitor with a quizzical glance as his frozen body did not follow. He walked up to the man. Was this part of the temple's test? Had he failed?

"Seto Yoshi?" the man's voice was deep and commanding, but Seto could hear the kindness mixed in it. This man seemed to have no ill intentions toward him.

"That's me," Seto confirmed, "Who are you? Are you here to proclaim me a failure?"

"There is no one who does that, young one," the man answered, "My name is Qui-gon Jinn."

"Oh," Seto thought his idea had been a good one. All well. "Uh, then why are you here, Master Jinn?"

"'Master'" Qui-gon said as his eyebrows arched. "Oh, no. Call me Qui-gon. I haven't been a master for a long time. I came here because there was a strong disturbance in the force. The temple was being strained, and was crying out like an SOS beacon. I came to see the cause, and I find two padawans simultaneously engaged in the temple's test."

"Well, its because our master Kanan..."

"I am well aware. I was not the only one the temple attracted. Master Yoda is taking care of your master and your companion."

"Master... Yoda? As in, 'do or do not'? Short, green, and the wisest Jedi to ever live?"

"Yes," Qui-gon confirmed.

Seto caught his breath. He couldn't believe the master Kanan had built up into nothing less than a Jedi celebrity in the minds of Ezra and him was currently talking to Ezra and Kanan! But then Seto frowned. "So why did he go to them and not me?"

Qui-gon heaved a heavy sigh, as if trying to find the proper words before prematurely speaking. Seto tucked that method away for later. "Seto, you were fortunate to have met me and not Yoda; there are some things that we... disagree on."

"What do you mean?" Seto asked.

Qui-gon sighed again, and this time Seto saw his eyes thinking. He was getting ready to saw something long. And important.

"Seto, you were never meant to pass the temple's tests," Qui-gon said.

"What?" Seto took a step back. "But... how will I become a Jedi then?"

"Seto, this is where you were fortunate to have met me and not Master Yoda. Had you met him, he would have lectured you and told you why you would make a horrible Jedi. However, the force had decided otherwise."

"What? What do you mean it's decided otherwise?"

"While the Jedi have always followed a strict rule set in their practice of the force, they have neglected to listen to the will of the force. The Jedi are not the only masters of the force who do good in the galaxy. I have seen a certain... 'part-timer' who has done much more good outside the Jedi than she had inside. In fact, I have a feeling your paths will be intermingling soon. The force has demanded it."

"A... but what does that have to do with me?"

"Seto, have you noticed how you have learned the basics of the force, but never got to the more... 'experienced' Jedi techniques?" Seto noticed how Qui-gon had emphasized "Jedi."

"Yeah, I think about that a lot actually. It's because I'm such a..."

"Because you were never destined to become a Jedi. You are pushing against a rock that cannot be moved, and becoming discouraged when you fail."

Seto thought about that for a second. "Wait, what?"

Quo-gon sighed. "You are going against your destiny. It's a metaphor."

Seto thought for a moment more. _Rock, discourage... oh!!!!_ "I get it."

"Your destiny was never to follow the path I had trod."

"Had?" Seto wondered quietly.

"You're destiny lies with another that you will meet in the coming times. She too has had basic Jedi training. However, in recent years, she has taken a different path. That is the path you will follow, and she will lead you down it."

Seto thought about that for a second. "So I'm going to meet a former Jedi, and she is going to teach me?"

Qui-gon slightly smiled. "Precisely."

Seto crossed his arms. "Well, why did you have to say it like a poet, with the metaphors and junk? You could have just said that."

Qui-gon opened his mouth, but did not speak. Seto let a small grin cut his face, as he had just out-talked a Jedi master.

Qui-gon rolled his eyes. "Here, I have something that you will need." He started to fiddle around with his blue pockets.

"Hey, Kanan isn't going to get in any trouble for training me wrong, is he?" Seto asked.

"Why would he?" Qui-gon asked. "He was only training you the only way he knew how."

"Oh, good." Seto said with relief. But something was still bothering him. "Then who's fault is it?"

Qui-gon found a pocket just as Seto asked that. He pulled something out but kept it hidden in his hand. "Young one, are you so blind you missed the moral?"

Seto sighed through his teeth. "Cut the crap. Give me the straight answer."

Qui-gon sighed. "What good does passing blame do? What's done is done; it cannot be changed. You know now what you must do. Forget what you thought of yourself; you must never be too quick to blame yourself, and then move on."

Seto thought for a second. He knew Qui-gon was right. Blaming someone would do no one any good. Besides, as he could see it, everyone was doing what they believed to be right. There really was no blame to pass.

"Here, take this," Qui-gon gave Seto a small blue crystal, no longer than his middle finger.

"What is this for?"

"You can use it to power a lightsaber after you craft one."

"Wait, really?" Seto's eyes widened. "A lightsaber?!" Finally. After watching and borrowing Kanan's for training exercises, he would finally have his own. He started to feel a strong itch to leave the temple so he could start on it.

"Do not take this gift lightly," Qui-gon warned, "I have given it to you because the hardships you will face will be nigh impossible without it. It is not an achievement, Seto. It is an omen."

Seto immediately put a mature and serious face on. But inside, he still couldn't wait to have his own lightsaber. "Thank you, master."

"Now go," Qui-gon ordered, "Your master and friend will be waiting for you."

Seto bowed slightly before turning and walking quickly backwards. But just then, he realized he had no idea where he was going. "Uh, Master Jinn?"

"Yes?"

"How do I get out?"

Qui-gon made a movement with his hand. Suddenly the room turned into pure darkness. Seto was so scared by the change he jumped to the only light around: Qui-gon's blue glow. He thought about asking why he had that glow, but his mouth didn't seem to be working at the moment.

And as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. Seto and Qui-gon were standing right beside the door to the main part of the temple, in the tunnel. "Oh. That was easy."

"Then why did you jump?" Qui-gon asked. Seto wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a bit of sarcasm in his voice. Before Seto could speak, Qui-gon said, "Oh, and Seto, when you meet your new master, tell him that his warning has come true."

"What?" Seto wondered on the meaning, but then recalled Qui-gon's poetic tendencies. "You know what? Forget it." Seto turned to open the stone door. Then Qui-gon's words clicked. "Wait, I thought you said my new master is..." Seto turned, but Qui-gon was gone. No residue, no leftover blue, nothing said that he had ever been there. Nothing except the crystal in Seto's hand. "...a girl." Seto was very confused, to say the least. He decided he had enough to dwell on besides something that could have easily been a grammatical slip-up. He turned in time to see the stone starting to rise.

***

With steps as quiet as a feather falling through the Coruscant skies among the thousands of roaring sky vehicles, the young informant made her way to her quarters. Once checking the halls one more time to make sure none of Jabba's pigs were anywhere near by, she set her hologram projector on her table. After a few seconds of waiting, the man on the other side picked up.

"Who is calling, I'm in the middle of a... oh, hey Ahsoka," Ahsoka saw the man on the other side currently hacking away at a large bear-looking beast trying to take off his forearm. So far, the beast hod only a couple slashes across his side made by the man's blue lightsaber shimmering in his right hand.

"Oh, Max are you okay? I can call back later," she said with a hint of worry for Max's well being. He had several claw marks across his torso already.

"Nah, I've almost got him. Whoa," the hologram became a constant moving blur as Max did something, groaned loudly, and a slice and a whine echoed through the projector. After a second, Max reappeared. "Got him."

"Well done. And how's that new cut on your arm looking?" Ahsoka teased.

"Oh, ha ha," Max sarcastically chuckled, "Like you never got hurt before."

"Well, nothing comes to mind," Ahsoka said.

"What? What about that time with the Sarlakk?" Max said.

Ahsoka shuddered, "Please, don't, I'm still LIVING the Sarlakk."

"Exactly," Max said, "How's that going, by the way?"

"It's almost wrapped up. Jabba decided to cut my service to him short since I killed that bounty hunter."

"Wait, you actually killed him?"

"Well, he DID try to kill me first," Ahsoka reasoned.

"Ah, I see. Self-defense," Max nodded. "What about those people you've been giving information to? The ones at Lothal."

Ahsoka sighed. "They're a good group of people, but..."

"What?" Max pressed.

"Well, they're only nine people. I'm thinking we need to combine them with the fleet I'm with."

"You mean Sato? Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea. With their success and Sato's military smarts, they could really do some serious damage. Maybe actually put this rebellion into third gear."

Ahsoka's forehead grew new wrinkles. "What?"

"It's a thing my dad says," Max said, "Something about our vehicles back where I come from."

"Oh, right," Ahsoka scolded herself lightly. This wasn't the first time Max's Terran talk had caused confusion. She was sure it wouldn't be the last. "But anyways, Senator Organa still thinks the protocol is working fine."

"Well, you just got to wait for the proper opportunity. Maybe the right incentive will arrive and Organa will have to change his mind," Max said in a hopeful tone.

"I hope your right," Ahsoka said, "Besides my reasons, it's only a matter of time before they do something too big for them to handle."

"Well, maybe that will be your chance," Max offered, "I'm sure Organa wouldn't want the one cell over Lothal to go down, now would he?"

"That is true," Ahsoka said, "I guess I'll just have to wait for the right time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, addressing the elephant in the room, the Laptop broke. There, that's why its been so long.
> 
> However, I hope the wait was worth it because now Darknessistheenemy and GM_Creed are working on the next three chapters, so have fun with them for a while. Also, I hope that you guys got something from the moral of Qui-gon's talk, because I had a bunch of dialogue in my head a month ago and it was going to make the message so powerful, but then the laptop broke and I forgot it all in the wait. All well, whatcha gonna do?
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I will see you in a couple chapters. Have fun with the others, and be nice. Even though they might be better at this than me.  
> -Kyba Star


	31. Chapter 31

Cirk aimed his NR-95 assault rifle lining up the barrel at the practice dummy and fired, missing all the shots. Cirk lowered the rifle and grunting, ”Yeah, I was right. The iron sights need to be replaced and soon or this baby won't shoot straight.”

Cirk walked back to the ship, dragging the dummy behind him. He made his way back to his room, muttering about iron sights and their sky-high prices. As he collected his daily ensemble of weapons: his knife, the M2237s, and his NR-95, he noticed the body armor he made while on Mandalore. He sighed, remembering good and bad memories of Mandalore.

“Only when the time comes will I wear the armor again,” he said, putting down his old, dusty helmet back with his suit and shutting down the stream of memories.

Cirk gathered his weapons and bag as he made his way out of the ship.

”Where are you going?” Cirk turned to see Hera and Kanan.

“Just heading to town to get supplies and meet a contact of mine.”

“Who?” Kanan asked.

“Someone I trust.”

“Okay," Hera said. "Take Seto with you."

Ezra grabbed Seto's arm,"I don't think that's a good idea."

"I agree." Cirk said, turning away from the group and taking a few steps down the ramp.

Hera scowled,"Cirk, I know you're anti-social because of your past.."

"I am not!" Cirk frowned, whirling around to face her.

"I'm not finished." Hera said, silencing Cirk with a raised hand, "But you're part of this family now. Please try to make an effort to connect to us."

Cirk silently fumed to himself, _I don't like being around this kid, but Hera will never let me hear the end of it if I don't._

Cirk sighed," Fine. But you listen to me and don't do anything stupid, alright?'

Seto looked at Hera, who had the look of a mother who wasn't to be disobeyed.

"Fine." he groaned.

Cirk grunted, muttering something about kids these days, and made his way toward his speeder, with Seto tagging along behind him.

 ***

Cirk and Seto drove into the town and headed toward Hail to Lothal, a dive bar slash slightly illegal upgrade shop for weapons and speeders.

”So why are we here again?” Seto asked, looking around at all the suspicious patrons.

"You're here because I don't want to get on Hera's bad side. Stay here and don't wonder around; it's dangerous. I going to get a drink.”

Cirk approached the bar, tapping the counter for the tender's attention,“Hey, is Geoyo Hallam in today?”

The tender jerked a finger to the back," He's in the back. I'll get him."

As the tender moved to the back to get Hallam, Cirk leaned back against the bar and took in the room.

Cirk took stock of every patron in the room, calculating the threat to him or Seto. Speaking of Seto, Cirk looked around for the kid, but didn't see him. Cirk looked a little more frantically for him.

 _Hera will kill me if I lose him._ He thought, searching deep in the shadows for the kid until finally spotting him in the corner, close to the door.

Cirk relaxed slightly. Seto had learned to hide using the shadows as a cover.

_I haven't seen someone who hid so well since Josh-_

Hallam came to the counter and exclaimed,” Cirk Concord! It’s been a long time since I’ve-“

Cirk jumped, startled out of his revere by Hallam's loud piecing voice," Oh! Hallam, keep it down would ya! The business I'm here for ain't exactly legal and I can't have my rookie finding out about it just yet. 

Hallam looked at Cirk slyly, a grin spreading over his face," Ah! I see. Won't you come to the back for privacy."

Cirk glanced back at Seto, making eye contact. He gestured for him to stay put and went with Hallam.

”You still know your Mando'a, yes?” Cirk asked, wading his way through the various parts scattered through the back area.

”Of course.”

“Good,” Cirk said in Mando'a. “I’ll need a new pair of iron sights.”

”Alright, what type?”

”You have the type for a sniper?”

”Indeed, I do,” Hallam said. “I got this of an old sniper rifle from the Clone Wars. Includes several settings: thermal, heat, and night.”

”Hmm, interesting.” Cirk hummed, stroking his beard, thoughtfully.

”I suppose you also need some information about the Empire?” Hallam said, a smile fluttering across his face.

”Yes, that will also be very generous of you, Hallam.” Cirk said, sarcastically.

”Well, there is information-.”

”Anything new on Mandalore?”

”Sorry, but no."

"I see."

"Why are you so obsessed with that planet, if you don't mind me asking?”

"I do mind actually." He said, as he looked though the scope to test the sights.

_Because I promised someone that would return. Someone I once called brother._

”Ah, sorry" Hallam said, rubbing the back of his hairy neck.

They stood in silence for a few moments.

”Hey, Hallam, you can cut the sympathetic crap now and tell me how much the Empire is paying you to betray me. I already know about the hidden cameras.” Cirk held out the sniper scope he had bought. “They give off a thermal reading.”

”Don’t take it personally. They offered me fifty thousand credits for your head and I get to keep my shop.”

”Yeah, I bet they did.”

Cirk backhanded Hallam with such force that he fell through several shelves of tools and parts. Cirk stalked over to Hallum, grabbing his shirt and lifting him into the air.

"The information. Give it to me." Cirk demanded, shaking Hallam fiercely.

Hallum coughed, blood spotting his lips,"Just.. something about a missing moon."

Cirk's eyes hardened.

"And?" He prompted.

"And.." Hallam was interrupted by another round of coughs," ...a possible location."

Cirk let Hallam fall to the ground, his mind racing.

 _'They know where they are!'_ His mind screamed.

_Don't let it show. It could be false._

Hallam looked up from the ground, wiping at the blood off his lips.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

BANG!

Cirk fired his M2237 in his left hand and watched Hallam fall to the floor, clutching his leg.

 _'Don't trust anyone here.'_ He heard his brother's words whisper to him. _How right he was._

"Don't follow us or you won't live to see the end of the day." Cirk warned.

Cirk walked quickly out of the backroom and toward the exit, grabbing Seto and dragging him with him.

”What did you do?” He demanded.

”Hallam sold me out to the Empire,” Cirk said as he placed the sniper scope on his rifle. “They are coming for us.”

”What do we do?”

”We go into the sewers, but before we leave town, I need to get into the Imperial facility and get some information the Imperials want to keep low.”

“What!” Seto shrieked as Cirk pulled him into an alleyway to avoid oncoming Imps.

“Its the same thing that you and Sabine pulled earlier this year."

"Yeah, but-"

"If you don't want to come then go back to the Ghost."

Seto bit his lip, knowing Hera wouldn't like him leaving Cirk alone.

"Fine." Seto bit out," What do we do?"

 ***

Seto and Cirk moved swiftly through the back alleys of Lothal to the Imperial archives located near in the lower levels of the Imperial Garrison.

"Stay quiet and get down. I'll handle these guys."

Seto scoffed as he got down low and watched Cirk take down a few guard with his bare hands.

"Show-off." Seto muttered, as Cirk dragged the troopers over to him.

"You can fit into one of these right?" Cirk grunted, holding up suit to Seto's shoulders.

"Probably."

"Right. Throw this on." Cirk said throwing a suit at Seto.

Seto grunted, rolling his eyes as he shrugged it on.

They quickly moved toward the Archives. When they arrived, Cirk unleashed his weaponry on the Imperials in the Archives, sealed the main doors, and began the hacking of the Imperial archives, while Seto stood watch at the main door.

"You're crazy," Seto said. "You know your alerting them to our presence?"

"I know," Cirk said. "It's part of my plan."

"What plan?"

"Work it out for yourself, if you can."

Seto scoffed. Hera was right, Cirk was anti-social. His mind went back to what happened at the bar.

"So, who was the Hallam guy you were talking to?" Seto asked.

"A contact." Cirk said, not looking up from the terminal.

"Why did he give you up?"

"He wanted to save his own skin."

"Heh, some friend." Seto snorted, glancing out into the corridor.

"Never said he was a friend."

Seto stayed silent for a time,"You spoke to him in a different language than basic."

"Mando'a, the ancient language of Mandalore."

"You know Mandalorian?" Seto asked excitedly," Can you teach me it?"

Cirk glanced at Seto, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Why?"

"I wanted to learn it to impress Sabine." Seto sheepishly said, a slight blush crawling up his neck.

"Ah." Cirk smiled, knowingly.

Seto decided to chance the subject quickly.

"So, you're Mandalorian, like Sabine?"

"No, I'm not."

Seto looked back at Cirk, who was still hunched over the terminal.

"Then where-"

"None of your business." Cirk snapped.

Seto stood silently, understanding he crossed a line, though how he wasn't entirely sure.

Cirk sighed,"I was on Mandalore for a time before the Empire came and I escaped."

"Escaped?"

"Someone I considered a brother in bond betrayed me to the Empire."

"You want to settle a score with him?"

"Yes. One day." Cirk said, his eyes hooded and dark with rage.

Seto opened his mouth to continue his line of questioning, just as the door exploded and stormtroopers flooded the room, restraining Cirk and Seto.

A young Imperial officer walked in, a smile playing around her lips.

"Cirk Concord," the officer said, coolly, "A pleasure to finally meet you in person."

"You know, when I said I wanted meet a lady of the Empire, I was talking about Governor Pryce."

"Remove their weapons," she said. A stormtrooper reached behind Cirk and removed his guns, knives, and a green egg-shaped object.

Just as the stormtrooper pulled the 'egg' away, Cirk reached up, breaking his restraints, and pulling out the small metal circle on the side. Cirk tossed it over to the officer in charge, grinning.

"What is this?"

"An engagement."

"WHAT?!" Seto said as the officer echoed his question.

"Well, 'cause," Cirk said, pointing to the ring in her hand. "I just gave you a ring, bi-aaaaaatch!"

Cirk grabbed Seto, shielding him from the blast of the grenade as Cirk ran out of the room, trailing smoke and fire.

"You're crazy," Seto gasped, from Cirk's bear hug.

"Not the first time someone has said that about me," Cirk said, letting go of Seto and dragging him to the exit,"We need to leave, now."

Seto agreed, though he was in shock from the blast, belatedly wondering how Cirk got out of his restraints.

They ran down the hall and hoped for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GM_Creed did most of the skeleton of the chapter while I did most of the details and fun scripting.  
> It's been a while but we hope to put out some more chapters soon.
> 
>  
> 
> -Darknessistheenemy


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give a quick shoutout to the chat in the PeaceLoveandGaming stream on twitch for helping me pick a name for the pirates. 
> 
> I’m not the person who streams there but I highly enjoy the streams and would recommend you all go check them out. 
> 
> -Darknessistheenemy

Cirk and Seto ran through the corridors of the Imperial garrison, taking down any stormtroopers that stood in their way.

"What were you thinking?" Seto yelled, slashing another trooper," You could have killed us!"

"You're fine. Quit whining, kid." Cirk yelled back, jamming the door open so they could run out to the platform.

They quickly hid behind several large containers as stormtroopers flooded after them. Cirk scanned the troopers, quickly counting them and rounding up his odds of winning.

"Cirk." Seto whispered, his eyes wide in fear.

Cirk turned toward the source of Seto's terror-filled gaze and saw him. Walking up from between the ranks was none other than the Grand Inquisitor himself. "Well, well," he sneered, "What have we hear?"

"What are you doing here?" Cirk asked, "Aren't there some Jedi you need to fail to eliminate."

"He is standing next to you," the Inquisitor pointed to Seto, "And I have no intentions on failing."

"Cirk," Seto whispered, "We can't both fight him; the troopers will mow us down if we do."

"I agree," Cirk said, "Are you sure you can handle him?"

"We'll see," Seto said, as he activated his lightsaber, the green blade glowing with life from the cyber crystal.

"Alright, split!" Seto jumped up just as the first shots flew toward them. He deflected a few and one of them actually hit another trooper. Cirk ducked under oncoming shots and shot one trooper. Pushing the now dead soldier, he billowed his way toward a crate set by an empty space on the platform. He leaped behind it just as another volley of shots flew over his head. Stormtroopers. Couldn't hit anything to save their lives, which, in this case, was an actually accurate metaphor.

Feeling and hearing the shots land around him, Cirk started to hear a pattern evolving. He had three windows of about one second, which was plenty of time to knock out two or three of them. Waiting for the opportune time, he jumped up and shot where there was a massive group of troopers. That was bad strategy; it was almost impossible for him to miss. He knocked down three easily before falling back behind his cover.

But it wasn't all going in his favor. He noticed the edges of the crate had gotten shorter, and they were on fire from the onslaught of shots the troopers had fired. He wasn't sure how long he had left before his cover was, literally, completely blown. He sighed. Maybe he could pick them off before that happened, or maybe Seto would beat the Inquisitor in time and help him. He sighed. Hopefully, Seto was having more luck than he was.

***

Only a few troopers actually decided to fire at Seto. The majority apparently assumed the Inquisitor would take care of him and went to take care of Cirk. Seto couldn't blame them, of course. He had no idea how he would beat the Inquisitor.

But the few idiots who decided they wanted the glory of a kill over actual strategy were easily taken down. Seto looked through the force, seeing only the living beings on the platform, the force flowing through their bodies, and apparently a pebble.

 _Stop focusing on a pebble!_ he scolded himself. Looking through the force, he saw a much more accurate picture of the position of the trooper's guns, and where their specifically their shots would go. With his eyes open, his force vision and normal vision combined, like two colors thrown together on a canvas. He saw exactly where the bullets would land and deflected them away from himself, while taking steps forward to take care of the troopers. He sliced their guns in half, and pushed them backwards with the force.

Seto found that fun. The force connected all living beings, and Seto could see it flowing between specifically him and the troopers when he focused on the force, so he simply pushed the force connecting them towards the troopers, which in turn sent them flying. It made sense, it was fairly simple, and it was fun to watch them go flying. Although the first time Seto had done it, he accidentally made himself fly along with the rock he was moving.

Seto gasped and ducked. His force vision had shown someone standing behind him, swinging his arm. He knew who that had to be. He turned as his body went down and brought his blade up toward the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor blocked it easily, the same evil, and at this point, annoying grin splitting his face. He pushed Seto backwards with his blade, putting a little force push into it. Seto slid backwards but didn't fall.

"What makes you think you can beat me, child?" the Inquisitor taunted.

"I've had a lot of fighting experience," Seto growled, swinging his blade at the Inquisitor's left side. The Inquisitor moved his blade to intercept. "Living on the streets for eight years will give you that!" At the last second, Seto switched his blade's direction and cut a gash across the Inquisitor's left leg.

With an angry growl, the Inquisitor took a step backwards. "Don't be so quick to decide to go easy on me," Seto taunted back, but he decided to take a step back as well. He only got that hit because the Inquisitor was going easy on him. He needed as much distance between them as possible.

Suddenly the force pulled his focus toward something else on the platform. Through the force, he saw Cirk pinned down behind something, too many troopers holding him down in one spot. There was no way he was beating all of them, no matter how good he thought he was. Seto turned his focus to the troopers. He had to try something. Something he had only done once before. Through the force, he saw the force's connection between himself and all the troopers. He tried to grab them all at once and throw the troopers away. Last time he did this, he passed out. But he would never learn if he never tried, and he had learned that lessons came at pretty weird times, so what the hell? He grabbed them, and using all the strength in the force he had, he threw the troopers across the platform into a TIE fighter.

Seto felt dizziness as soon as he let them loose. He stumbled a little, then remembered something else important was going on. As his head started to clear and his balance returned he couldn't remember. What was he doing before he threw those troopers.

Then a less then gentle reminder slid its way through his left shoulder; oh, yeah. He was fighting the Inquisitor

***

Cirk moved with precision, taking out troopers left and right. Cirk had developed an uncanny ability to move quicker and lightly since coming to this galaxy. Joseph had blamed a lighter gravity, Josh said it was his super soldier testing, but JoAnna voted on him being slightly force sensitive. Cirk scoffed at the idea. JoAnna may get great pleasure out of having the Force, but he had no interest of being Sith or Jedi.

Cirk was startled out of his routine by a scream of pain.

 _Seto_. 

Cirk whirled to face where the boy had been fighting the Inquisitor only to see Seto with a blade through his shoulder. Seto's eyes rolled back into his head as he slide down to the ground. The Inquisitor drew back, readying himself for the final kill. Cirk knew what he had to do. He summoned all his strength and pushed, praying to the Force that JoAnna had been right.

The Inquisitor flew back from Seto, crashing into a stack of crates. Cirk cherished the look of utter surprise on the Sith's face as he stared from the fallen crates. 

"Jedi." He hissed, struggling to untangle himself from the boxes.

Cirk smirked," No. Terran."

With a bang Cirk's smoke bomb exploded allowing him, carrying Seto, to escape into the night.

***

Seto woke with a groan to find himself in a field.

_How did I get here?_

At least he was still on Lothal. Seto could tell that from the flowing hills of grass stretching miles in every direction. Looking around, he found Cirk sitting on a rock a few feet away gripping his wrist and staring at his hand like it was a mystery he had to unravel.

”What happened?” Seto asked Cirk.

Cirk sighed. “We escaped. Barely. The Inquisitor had you on the ground. He was about to...”

”What?” Seto pressed.

”He was about to kill you,” Cirk finished.

Seto looked down at the ground. The possibility of death had been in the back of his head while they fought, but still, he felt a bit of shock.

Fiddling with his hands, Seto sighed to himself, “Of course he was. I’m a horrible Jedi.”

Cirk stood from the rock and grabbed Seto’s shoulders. “No, Seto it wasn’t your fault. He caught us both off guard. The fact is you saved us. If you hadn’t thrown those troopers from attacking me then we both would have died.”

Seto glanced up for a second, but in his heart he didn’t feel much better, no matter how loud the truth rang through his ears.

Cirk could see that evidently. “Alright, Seto, let me tell you a story,” he said, “Once, there was a man. He wasn’t normal in the world. He looked like he fit in, but in reality he couldn’t be much farther from where he belonged. He got stranded on a planet where everyone there had a death wish toward him. He was outmatched and outgunned. But he wasn’t going down without a fight. He hid out in a forest for a while before finally deciding to stop feeling like he was a worthless soldier and do what he was meant to do. And because of that mentality, plus an arsenal of throwing knives, he overcame all odds and escaped the planet. And he’s been doing that ever since, jumping from planet to planet avoiding those who would use him for their own evil purposes. And every time he escapes, because he doesn’t care  if his enemies are ‘better’ than him; because better is a state of mind.”

”Who was that man?” Seto asked.

Cirk sighed. “That man was me, Seto. And look what we did today because I didn’t give up because I thought someone was better.”

Seto didn’t feel too much better, but he did get Cirk's point. But there was one thing that still nagged at him. “Cirk, you said that the man couldn’t be much farther from where he belonged. Where do you belong.”

Cirk gave a smirk. “Oh, it starts a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”

***

The  _Ghost_ hadbarely touched down before Ezra and Sabine ran down the ramp with Zeb coming down a bit slower behind them. “What happened, Seto? Are you all right?” Ezra asked.

”I’m okay,” Seto insisted, “Well, thanks to Cirk.”

”What happened to your shoulder?” Ezra said, grabbing at Seto’s arm and pulling him closer so as to inspect it better. Apparently he hadn’t listened to a word Seto just said.

”It’s just a scratch, really,” Seto said, trying to hide that he really couldn’t move it very much.

“Seto, that’s a stab wound,” Sabine said, “We need to get that looked at right now.”

”Okay, fine, mom,” Seto said sarcastically while following her up the ship’s ramp.

 “Hey Cirk.” Zeb smiles, walking down to him and grabbing his arm in a friendly way. “Kill any stormies?” 

“You know it, brother.” Cirk replies, returning the gesture. 

Hera smiles at the group, Kanan’s arm around her, watching her makeshift family. 

_This. This is family._

***

John sighed as he closed his door. Telling Hera and Kanan the truth of his origins had been confusing to say the least. They weren't quite able to understand where exactly he had come from. He wished he had saved some holos of Earth to show them. He had wanted to give them time decide whether or not to tell the rest of the crew. Knowing about Terrans, even just the location of one, often lead to the infamous Terran hunter to swoop down on them.

John scoffed, _Terran hunter. No Imperial scum can stop a Terran._

Speaking of Imperial, time to look at that information. Pulling out the data stick, John plugged it into his old datapad. John skimmed the data, getting more and more frustrated.

"Nothing!! There's nothing here!" John growled, throwing the pad across the room.

He smacked his head against his hands in frustration.

_Where could he find the info Hallum was talking about? Who else could know?_

A thought crossed John's mind. A brilliant, terrible idea. Grabbing his special coded transponder, John slipped out of the Ghost for privacy.

***

JoAnna jumped from her bed and swept up her comm. it wasn’t her normal comm; this one was special. Only three people had the code to this comm: John, Joshua, and Joseph. She knew it couldn’t be Joshua since he was in prison. Joseph hadn’t spoken since Europa left. So it must have been John.

JoAnna furrowed her brow. Why would John call? Wasn’t he with some Rebel group near Lothal?

JoAnna answered the comm," Hello, John."

"How did you know?"

"Josh and Joe are on radio silence,"

John grunted, sounding tinny and distant. "I need information."

JoAnna scoffed as she shifted into a more relaxing position. "I don't know if I can give you much."

"There's a rumor going around in smuggler and pirate groups that a strange moon not on any star charts in the area of Unknown Regions."

JoAnna sat up. How could news have gotten to Lothal so quickly? Damn, she needed to take care of these rumors quickly. She had a sinking feeling that the Aether Ravagers were the source of all of this. Those pirates had been sniffing around several of her possible locations of Europa for too long. They need to be handle.

"JoAnna?"

JoAnna snapped back to reality. "I haven't heard any rumors here, but I have a good idea who may have the info, brother mine."

John snorted,"At least tell me when you know if its true or not."

"It'll be a while, Cirk." JoAnna said, mocking the fake ID. "I'm going undercover."

"Where?" Cirk said, using his concerned dad voice.

"Classified, Jimmy boy." JoAnna teased.

"Don't call me that." John growled. "And its spelled with a 'c' not a 'k'."

"Riiight." JoAnna smirked.

"Can you tell me how long?" John questioned, desperation leaking into his voice.

JoAnna sighed," A year, maybe two."

Heavy silence crackled on the other line.

"You must be patient, John."

"I've been patient for fifteen fucking years!!" John bellowed. JoAnna heard something clank in the background. She knew John must have thrown something.

"And I haven't?" JoAnna questioned calmly.

"You never wanted to go back." John spat, his rage crystal clear now.

"I have my reasons why I won't go back." JoAnna said, icily.

"You also had reasons you should have never left."

There was a click then static. JoAnna shut off her comm, running her hands through her hair. John was always too sensitive. Especially with family. 

JoAnna went to collect her luggage and false ID when her comm rang again.

JoAnna grabbed her comm, ready for John’s angry voice to filter through again. But she stopped herself short.

Her special comm wasn’t ringing. It was her main comm. She fished it out of her pocket and answered. 

***

The Inquisitor waited as the line rang. Normally she answered after one ring; however today it rang a few times before she answered.

“What?” She demanded, a bit of impatience in her voice. 

“Begging your pardon, Madam, but there is news from Lothal.”

”Yes?”

The Grand Inquisitor cleared his throat, hoping that his news would brighten her dark mood. 

“There is a Terran here on Lothal.”

He paused after hearing her sharp intake of breath. 

“And,” he continued,” he is Force sensitive.”

Nothing but silence answered him for a time. 

“Interesting.” She said, not sounding interested nor happy. “However I will not be able to address this ‘Terran’ anytime soon.”

”Why not?” he asked, then quickly added,” if I may ask.”

Madam scoffed,” I am going undercover, if you must ask. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will be gone for a standard year at least.”

The Grand Inquisitor was dumbfounded.

”An entire year?” He questioned.

”Don’t panic, my dear.” She crooned, her voice dripping with venom. “ I hear that Grand Moff Tarkin is coming to Lothal to deal with your little rebel problem. I’m sure he can help you with one little Terran.”

The call ended with a click, leaving the Inquisitor frustrated and concerned. 

Grand Moff Tarkin. This wasn’t going to be good. For anyone.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello hello! I know I said I wasn’t going to be writing for the next few chapters, BUT I couldn’t stay away. I just had to write the fight between the inquisitor and Seto, Since I know Seto as a character better than the other two. Also, apparently if I’m not helping it takes forever to get done. I wrote that fight like a weeks or two ago! (Also I’m better at this part as well.)
> 
>  
> 
> But, despite all that, the person behind the plot was GM_Creed. But he isn’t good with detail so Jo Mist wrote the “meat” of the chapter, along with my help with the fight and Cirk’s “inspirational” speech.
> 
> Anyways, this took too long to get done and it’s not my fault don’t yell at me. Hopefully we’lol see you soon when a certain Moff arrives on Lothal ;)  
> -Kyba Star


	33. Chapter 33

Zee sat on the circular couch waiting for Kanan, Ezra and Sabine to return. Seto had wanted to go with them but with his injured shoulder Hera insisted he stay at the Ghost. He had pouted in his room for a good twenty minutes till Zee convinced him to come watch the Holonet with the rest of the crew.

The group were watching a newscast of Gall Travis when Kanan and the rest walked in. Seto jumped up from the couch, wincing a little before going over to Ezra.

"How was it?" Seto asked, subtly looking over Ezra for injures.

"Great!" Ezra smiled," You should have seen the sneak attack we pulled on them, Seto."

Hera shushed them, motioning to the newscast.

Zee's attention turned from the boys to the news. The newscaster was asking Travis questions about them. Zee's mind tuned out the audio in favor of her own internal monologue.

_I wonder why this dude is so against the Rebels. He's a hippo. I wonder what a hippo looks like?_

"-we can do it too." Kanan's voice pierced through her abstract thoughts.

"What are we talking about?" Zee whispered to Cirk.

"Kanan's explaining a plan to send out an inspirational message to the galaxy." He whispered back.

"Ohhhh." Zee hummed, still not exactly sure what that meant.

"I'm in." Ezra said, smiling mischievously.

"Me too." Seto echoed.

"ME THREE!!" Zee exclaimed, jumping up on the table and throwing her hands in the air.

Cirk shrugged, "I've got nothing better to do."

Hera nodded her agreement.

"YEAH!" Zee yelled,"So what exactly are we doing again?"

***

 The Inquisitor stood over the headless bodies of Grint and Aresko. Such a waste of human life.

"A shame they couldn't have been more useful." Tarkin sneered.

The Inquisitor scowled," I assume Madam spoke to you."

Tarkin looked up from his seat. "Madam?"

"The Terran hunter: Eclipse."

"Ah yes. Her." Tarkin leaned back, folding his arms together."Yes she spoke to me of the rumored 'Terran'."

"She did tell you of his Force sensitivity?"

"She did mention it being possible, but requested we do nothing with him till her return."

The Inquisitor looked shocked. "Do nothing?"

Tarkin shrugged," She is the expert on them."

The Inquisitor still struggled to agree with the idea of doing nothing with a creditable threat.

"She also mentioned your apprentice."

The Inquisitor stiffened. 

"I know she has been brainwashed by these rebel scum into their ideology."

Tarkin hummed under his breath,"Do you believe you can undo the affects?"

"Yes"

Tarkin pushed away from the desk and stood," If you believe you can, then we will strive to take her alive."

The Inquisitor bowed as Tarkin walked to the door. Tarkin paused in the doorway, half turning back to the Inquisitor.

"But if she doesn't revert back to the Empire, I will not hesitate to end her."

***

 Zee sat on the couch upside down contemplating life. Seto, Ezra, Sabine, and Kanan had already left for the recon of the something that's inspiring or some other bull like that. Zee was already bored of this 'mission'  or whatever it was. She just wanted some blue milk but they were out and the guys weren't going get any before they came back!

Needless to say, Zee was left to her own devices for the next hour or so till they got back. Zee let her mind wonder. _The crew was gone, so what to do? Maybe go through Cirk's stuff? No, he's still here. Does Cirk have a chin under his beard? I should shave it and find out. Silly me, he'd break my arm before I got one stroke in._

**_Unless we break his first.  
_ **

Zee sat up and looked around. _Who said that?_

**_We did._ **

_What?  
_

The dark voice chuckled. **_Of course you don't understand. Your mind is still broken._**

_Broken?_

**_Yes, young one._ **

_I.. am broken?  
_

**_Your mind is. I am who you were before we were almost killed by that fool of a captain._ **

_A captain? I don't remember that.  
_

**_I can help you remember 'Zee'. I know everything about you. Your childhood. Your family. Your real name._ **

_My name? Tell me!_

**_..._ **

_Please!_

**_..._ **

_What is it?  
_

**_I'll tell you. Your name is..._ **

"ZEE!" Seto's voice shook through her thoughts, shoving the dark voice back into the recesses of her mind.

Zee stared up at Seto with shock," I have two voices."

Seto smiled, patiently,"That's nice, Zee. Kanan said its time to go on the mission."

Seto put his hands on Zee's shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes,"Are you ready?"

Zee stared back, her eyes growing hard," Ready."

***

Simple rock pushing.

A boulder crumbled suddenly, making the two troopers by it momentarily glance in that direction. In that split moment a speeder flew in with a young padawan on the back shooting stun shots from his lightsaber hilt.

As the other dozen troopers turned to the attack they all forgot to take notice of the figures hiding in the shadows of the turrets, who were also now distracted. Before they could get their guns fully raised the troopers slammed into the ground hard. 

Once they were successfully discombobulated, two Jedi jumped out from behind one turret. It turned to fire but before it got a chance to even turn to aim at them it exploded into three dozen pieces.

The second turret turned to fire at the sudden attackers, but the light of the other exploding gun momentarily blinded the trooper at the controls. As soon as he could see again he lost his sight as a fist planted itself into his face and sent him flying off the gun.

Seto and Kanan ran up to Zeb and Cirk as they manned the captured turret. “Alright, you guys watch for their reinforcements and don’t let them get close till we’re done.”

”You got it chief,” Zeb said cheekily as he plopped himself down in the turret’s seat.

”I still can’t believe that worked,” Seto sighed as Sabine drove Zee and Ezra towards them, with Chopper somewhere behind. 

“This was your idea,” Kanan said in surprise.

”Yeah, but I only said it because it was better than what you said,” Seto countered, “‘Have Sabine drive in headfirst dragging an explosive to destroy the first turret.’ She would have been shot the minute they saw her.”

”She might have made it!” Kanan defended himself.

”Yeah, and then what?” Seto grinned snarkily.

”I don’t know! You didn’t let me get that far!” Kanan said just as Sabine drove beside them.

”And neither would she,” Seto finished as the others disembarked.

Ezra immediately slapped Seto on the shoulder. His not injured one. “Good plan, Seto. Really went smoothly.”

”Thank you, good sir,” Seto replies with sarcastic formality, “ I never doubted it.”

Kanan rolled his eyes as they all headed into the tower. Sabine casually strolled into the tower and shot the two men at the controls. Kanan leaped over the console and pushed a button. “Okay, Sabine. Three minutes.”

***

Zeb sat grinning as he felt the power of his weapon surging through him. No one would get to his friends inside. Not while he was on the case.

The cocking of a gun woke Zeb from his thoughts. Oh, and Cirk as well. He stood there holding some sort of rifle. Zeb had never seen a make or model like it before, and wondered where Cirk had got it.

"Meilooruns don't have hearts," Zee's voice broke Zeb's thoughts. He gasped in surprise as he noticed Zee standing next to the gun. "They just have cores. And seeds."

"What the...?" Cirk said before Zeb stopped him from finishing.

"What are you doing here, Zee? You're supposed to be inside with the others."

"But you're outside," Zee pointed out, turning to look at Zeb instead of gazing off dramatically into the horizon.

"I'm watching for the empire's reinforcements," Zeb explained.

Zee's gaze shifted slightly as Zeb finished speaking. She seemed to be staring at something behind him. "Like those guys?" Zee pointed behind Zeb. Zeb spun the gun around to see an army of speeders, tanks, and trooper carriers speeding toward them.

"Karabast," he swore as he pulled out his communicator and Cirk started shooting at the inbound enemies.

Zee strolled off, almost uncaring as the men began their attack. She weaved around the incoming bullets like a dancer making her way behind the tower. She stopped at the edge of the grassy plain behind the tower stooping to look at a single yellow flower. Zee knew she should have gone inside, but couldn't shake the feeling she was meant to stay outside, like fate had dictated her movements. She heard the bullets shoot from the gunships, saw smoke pour from one of the turrets, but stayed silent and watchful.

_**The time is now, little one.** _

_Time?_

**_Time for you to be reunited with your true master._ **

The wind blew gently, rustling the grass as the Phantom took flight into the darkening sky. Zee heard the sound of lightsabers clashing, smelled the burning in the air, and saw the lights of blue and red dance in the dark. She stood making her way to the entrance of the tower with strange disinterest. The battle had ended when she arrived. Zee saw Kanan kneeling on the ground, the Grand Inquisitor standing over him. Both looked shocked at her appearance.

"Zee.." Kanan breathed, softly,"What are you..?"

Kanan stopped short by a shift in the Inquisitor's saber.

"Hello, Jayleen." The Grand Inquisitor grinned evilly.

Kanan's eyes widened in shock.

Zee's eyes raised to his, sickly gold meeting gold. Zee's consciousnesses was pushed back into the passenger seat, as Jayleen took the wheel.

"Hello, Master."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo I am excited to share this one. So, first things first, the double voice thing was entirely Darknessistheenemy’s idea. She wrote basically everything except for the alternate takeover of the tower. I came up with that. And I am pretty proud of it.
> 
> But you don’t want to hear me butter my own toast. The climax of part two is coming up. It looks like the story is gonna be five parts now, but don’t worry cause part 3 shouldn’t be too long. The other two, well we’ll see. BUT! That’s the future. Right now I’ve got the last two or three chapters of part two. I will see you next time.  
> -Kyba Star


	34. Chapter 34

Jayleen watched unmoved as Kanan’s body writhed with pain for the shock of electricity. She had no feelings for this ‘father’ that her weaker side had grown attached to. She could feel the pain of sorrow from Zee. 

_**Yes, Zee. Your sorrow only brings me pleasure.** _

_Why? What did he do to deserve this pain?_

**_He exists._ **

_WHAT THE FU-_

Jayleen smirked outwardly, squishing down Zee into a deep corner of her mind.  

Jayleen turned toward her master, his work done on the Jedi.

”Come.” He commanded, striding out of the prison cell. 

Jayleen trailed behind him, silently.

”I need you to prove your loyalty to the Empire.”

Jayleen looked up at the Inquisitor. “They suspect me of rebellion?”

”Your loyalty is in question after your incident. Amnesia or not, Grand Moff Tarkin requires you to make a show of loyalty.” 

They walked in silence while Jayleen considered her delicate situation.

”What would happen if I failed the test?”

The Grand Inquisitor glanced back at her,” You would be deemed a traitor and executed for your crimes.”

Jayleen weighed her options. She knew she could escape easily if they tried to execute her. Her mother had taught her that many years ago. However, she had just regained control over her body again and returned to her master; she did not want to lose the only life she’d known again.

”I will take the test, my master.”

The Grand Inquisitor smiled down at her. “Good.” 

“May I ask what the test will be?”

They stopped as they reached her rooms.  The Inquisitor regarded her coldly. 

“Jayleen, you will killed the captured Jedi.”

***

With a face of pure determination and anger Seto grabbed his lightsaber, making sure it was secure against his belt. He grabbed a fresh pair of black pants and a dark shirt. Then grabbed his brown and black coat ad slung it over his shoulders. Nothing, in his mind, was going to stop them. He was going to get his master back. He was going to bring Zee home. And the entire empire’s armada couldn’t stop him.

”Seto,” Sabine knocked on the frame of his door, “You ready?”

Seto sighed. “Yeah, just about.”

Sabine didn’t buy it, apparently. “Seto, you’ve been like this since the tower. You know it wasn’t your fault.”

”Yeah, but it was my responsibility,” Seto said. 

Sabine stepped forward and grabbed Seto’s fist. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how tight his fist had been. Sabine slowly unraveled his fist. “Listen, Seto, if you keep on thinking like this, you won’t be able to play your part right. We need you at your best, and you won’t be that if you are paranoid.”

Seto half groaned half sighed. He almost made a fist again, but Sabine’s hand was still there. He reached up with his other hand and rubbed his face. “I just... I promised to take care of Zee, and in the most vital moment, broke my promise. I just don’t want to make that mistake again today.”

”You won’t, Seto. You just need to focus. You made a mistake, forget about it. Rectify it.”

Seto sat down on his bed. “That’s one thing, though. To get Zee back, I get the feeling I’m going to have to fight the Inquisitor again. Last time I did that...” Seto broke himself off.

”This time, we’ll be right there next to you,” Sabine said, “You won’t be alone.”

Suddenly Seto stood from the bed and wrapped his arms around Sabine. Since Seto was a fairly tall guy, Sabine was almost buried. However, she only hugged him back.

”Thank you,” Seto said, “for everything.”

Despite everything going on, Sabine let her face break loose a smile. She felt safe here. She wanted Seto to be happy, so she was overfilled when he said that too her.

After a second, Seto let her go. They stood for a second before Sabine slipped on her helmet.

”Ready?”

”Ready.”

”About time,” Ezra broke into the conversation. 

Both were startled by his sudden appearance. “Ezra, how long were you standing there?”

”Long enough to hear you say your ready, which is all I need to hear. Hera is very ready to go.”

“And for good reason,” Seto said. “Let’s go then.”

”For Kanan,” Ezra said.

”For Zee,” Seto added as they walked out.

before Seto stepped out, however, Ezra stopped him. “Hey, Seto, your black is fading a bit. Do you want to re-dye your hair before we go?”

Seto turned. His hair spray was sitting next to his bed. “This is a family matter. My new family. Time to let the past go.” Sort resched down and grabbed the dye removal next to the spray.

***

Zee was trapped. Trapped in her own head. Jayleen was running the show and all Zee could do was watch in horror. 

Jayleen was preparing for her test of loyalty when Zee finally escaped from the mental cage Jayleen had pushed her in.

_Please! Don’t do this! Kanan is my friend._

**_He will die. I must prove my loyalty to the Empire_ **

_Why?! What’s so important about the Empire that you kill for?_

**_I must. If we don’t they’ll kill us. This is what we must do._ **

_Bullshit!! I don’t believe that’s the only choice._

_**You’d be wrong, little one.** _

_Why?_

**_Because. We have been taught since we were born to kill. It’s in our nature. Our very soul. We will kill. Either here or somewhere else._ **

Jayleen moved toward the door. 

_**Besides. The only way you will be able to stop me from killing the Jedi is by gaining control. And you can’t do that unless you use the power of the Darkside.** _

Zee shuddered mentally as she felt the slimy evil wash over her like dirty sewage. 

She hated the darkness inside her. The raw power it brought. All she had to do to escape was reach out with it and claim her body again. But she knew if she did that she would merge with her other self. She would remember. And Zee didn’t want to remember. 

Jayleen had reached the cell readying her lightsaber. 

_**I knew you couldn’t do it** _

Jayleen was in the cell. Kanan was released from his restraints but was too weak to protect himself. Jayleen stood over him lining up her saber with his neck. 

_**And now your friend will DIE!** _

Zee screamed as she reached for the darkness just as Jayleen began to swing. She merged the two broken halves of her mind with the raw power flowing through her. Her body shook arcing back and dropping the saber inches from Kanan. 

Kanan watched as her eyes shown bright gold. Her mouth opened in a silent scream of pain. Suddenly, her body dropped like a rag doll to the floor. Her eyes closed and her breathing was practically nonexistent. 

Kanan crawled painfully to her gathering her in his arms. He shook her gently calling her name. 

Jayleen’s eyes fluttered open. She looked at Kanan and opened her mouth to say-

Suddenly the door to the cell opened and there stood Seto and Ezra. 

Kanan stared at them. 

“What are you doing here?”

Seto and Ezra looked at each other. 

“I thought it was obvious. We’re here to rescue you guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One. Chapter. Left.


End file.
